Missing
by hpforever85
Summary: A story of survival and never giving up hope. Follow Harry and Ginny through a love that will stand the test of time, with pain, loss, friendship, a little bit of faith, and a lot of love.
1. Chapter 1: Saying Goodbye

**Saying Goodbye**

She was in a large, metal bird. A large, heavy, metal bird that she was supposed to trust to take her safely across the Atlantic Ocean. Now, call her crazy, but huge contraptions such as this weren't supposed to be able to stay suspended in air without magic of some sort. However, Hermione had insisted that no magic was involved so, despite her good friend's assurances, she was certain she'd soon be crashing down into a huge, flaming catastrophe on the ground. Ginny only had one logical conclusion: Muggles were insane!

"_I'd be safer staying here dealing with You-Know-Who rather than this!"_ she thought in desperation as her fingers clamped even tighter on the armrests.

"Is this your first time flying?"

The question came from a boy sitting by the tiny window next to her. He had an American accent, and if she had to guess his age, she'd put him at fourteen, maybe fifteen. Enough years younger than her twenty for her to find it aggravating that he could seem so calm while she was in such a state of distress. She wasn't such a ninny under normal circumstances. Godric, she'd kill for a Calming Draught right about now.

"_Keep wishing, Ginny,"_ she disdainfully told herself. _"As soon as you're in America, it's life as a muggle for you."_ For the foreseeable future anyway.

Forcing the sarcasm from her voice, (she would be sitting by the kid for the next several hours, after all) Ginny replied, "What tipped you off?"

The boy popped the bubble he'd been blowing with his thumb and index finger and stuffed the gum back inside his mouth before pointing casually and saying, "Cuz you're holding on for dear life, and we haven't even left the ground yet."

Ginny glanced down to where he had gestured, just now noticing how tight her grip on the armrests was. She forced herself to let go, flexing her fingers so the blood flow could return to her white knuckles.

"It's not that bad, you know," the kid next to her began to explain. "I had my flying cherry popped back when I was like six or something. I was pretty freaked out, too, but once you're up in the air, it's smooth sailing. Unless you hit bad weather of course. It gets a little bumpy then, but still. Haven't been on a plane that's crashed yet," he grinned.

"Lovely," she grumbled in return. The plane at that moment happened to start moving, and she gripped the seat again in desperation.

"Don't worry. We're not taking off. We haven't even started heading for the runway yet." The kid was smirking now. Ginny wanted to hex him. She was still glaring at him when he murmured, "Hey, if it's your first time, you might want to listen."

She hadn't even realized that the woman in the uniformed, black and white pant suit had started speaking to the passengers, even with that funny, little, Muggle voice amplifier thing she was using.

Crap. _"Get it together,"_ she chastised herself. Harry would have her head if he could see how debilitating her nerves were to her attention right now. Sure it was just a Muggle woman giving instructions on what to expect for the flight, _"but what if a Death Eater had somehow managed to follow you onto the plane?" _She could practically hear Harry's worried and frustrated tone saying the words. She wouldn't have been the slightest bit aware. She could have easily been hexed in the past several minutes and never would have seen it coming.

Well, that wouldn't do at all, not when the whole blasted reason she was on this plane was to get her safely into hiding and out of You-Know-Who's clutches.

It had been a hell of a decision, if she'd stay or go. Her family needed her, and she'd fought vehemently against the idea of leaving them, of leaving Harry, but of course, the strain in her father's voice when he wearily asked for her consent had done well to knock a few bricks from the stubborn wall she'd built up on the issue. Her dad had never been the same after her mother's accident a few years ago. It was the same night they'd lost Fred, at the Battle of Hogwarts. Then Harry…one look into his mesmerizing green eyes, seeing the love and desperation for her safety in there…that had done her in.

Harry hadn't always been so overly protective of her. He knew she could well stand her own in a fight, but the thing was, You-Know-Who, if he wasn't doing so before, had decided to play dirty. Ever since he had discovered how very close Harry was growing to actually defeating him, she had become the sinister wizard's prime target, a distraction to draw his prophesized defeater out of hiding.

The thing was Harry wasn't in hiding. Well, he was, but not in a cowardly sort of way. He and Hermione (and Ron up until the point he'd been hurt a few months ago) were keeping low key and on the move, in search of the last Horcrux. Unfortunately, a misinterpreted clue let You-Know-Who onto their progress, and the final, separated piece of the so-called Dark Lord's soul they needed to destroy had been moved, no doubt with even more protection than before.

It was the new state of the situation that had everybody so concerned for her. Ginny would much rather stay and fight. She'd faced Death Eaters before, on more occasions than she could count. She'd taken on four at once that fateful night at Hogwarts…and she'd only been sixteen then.

Wow…it was hard to believe that in just a couple of weeks it will have been four years since Fred had passed and her mother's mind had been subjected to the Cruciatus so severely it would only be in right working order a few hours out of the day. The one good thing that had happened that night was that Percy had come back to the family. He'd lost three of the fingers on his wand hand since then, though, and what a baby he'd been while she'd been patching him up.

With her mother in the state she was most of the time, Ginny had felt it her place to step in as her family's caretaker. Fleur helped quite a bit as well. She and Bill had stayed with them all for a long while after the battle, while they had all depended on each other so for support, but they were married, and they deserved what normalcy they could salvage during this horrid war. So after some insistence from the family, they spent a good deal of time back at Shell Cottage now, though Ginny could always count on her sister-in-law for an ear, shoulder, or hand as needed.

She never thought she'd appreciate Fleur so much, but with Hermione gone most of the time and her mum basically… Well, there was no need for labels. After all, her mum could be much worse. Ginny was occasionally able to steal much sorely needed and missed mother-daughter time on Molly Weasley's most lucid days. Those, however, were much too rare, and as much as it tortured her, no one in the family was affected as much as Arthur Weasley.

That really was what had gotten her to agree to the plan that had wound her up on this plane. Ginny could see it in her father's eyes. He couldn't take it if something happened to another member of their family.

And that's why she had to be on alert now. The stewardess was still talking. Ginny had her ears wide open for that, but her eyes were now skimming cautiously through the rest of the passengers.

There was a Muggle business man across the aisle from her. She could tell by all of the gadgets he was turning off and stowing away via the stewardess' instructions for all electnic devices. A couple of elderly women were chatting innocently from behind her, and there were several families seated in the next rows in front of her. She wished she could see more of the people on board. She should have been paying more attention as everyone was getting on. Well, at least everyone close by seemed alright.

She watched as a man near the front stood to add something to the overhead luggage carriers. It was a long, black case with a handle. It looked like something she could easily store her wand in. Curious, she whispered to her companion, "Do you know what kind of case that is?"

He glanced in the direction she was still looking. "Looks like some sort of instrument case," he shrugged.

"Instrument case?"

"Yeah, you know, like for a flute or something. The band geeks carry around things like those at school."

Ginny decided it would be better to just nod as if she understood. She continued to watch as the man shut the overhead compartment, determined to remain vigilant, when her staring must have caught his eye. He paused, penetrating her with a scrutinizing dark gaze that caused her breath to hitch. She began easing her leg up, reaching for her wand she had so carefully tucked into her knee high boots, when his look changed. He shook his head as though confused and lowered himself into his seat.

Ginny immediately relaxed. She was becoming paranoid. _"You probably freaked him out with _your_ staring,"_ she laughed to herself.

Confident that for now she could relax and worry about the impending takeoff, Ginny turned to her informative friend as the stewardess put the voice amplifier away. "You think we'll be taking off soon?" The plane eased into movement a second later, and she found herself clutching the armrests at her sides again.

The boy smirked. She was beginning to think he enjoyed watching her freak out. "Yeah," he replied, gentle laughter just audible in his words. "I'd say that's a possibility." She threw him another dirty look. "Here," he grinned wider as he pulled something from his pocket. "Take a piece. It'll help with the air pressure."

"What's going to happen with the air pressure?" Ginny asked worriedly.

"Makes your ears pop. Don't worry. It stops once we're at a steady altitude again." He shoved an open pack of gum in front of her. Ginny nodded and numbly took a piece.

"I'm Adam, by the way."

Ginny, she almost answered. "Brittney," she barely managed to remember. She was now Brittney Southerby, according to all of the documents Hermione had drawn up for her. Muggles really did have a lot of cards and paperwork to mess with. "You can call me Britt, though."

"Nice," Adam smiled.

Ginny just swallowed. The stewardess was giving out the last warnings now. Godric, this metal bird better do what Hermione promised it would.

"You can hold my hand if you want," Adam offered through his smirk. Ginny shook her head, performing a mental eye roll, but then the plane began moving forward, building in speed so that she was desperately chomping on her gum and praying she survived as she was pushed back into her seat by the force of their acceleration.

Ginny did not like it at all. Her ears were hurting, there was pressure in her head, her stomach was in knots, and she just knew she was going to die. It seemed like forever before the uncomfortable sensations eased and she dared to open her eyes again.

It should not have surprised her to find Adam smirking at her.

"What?" she barked.

"You've got a strong grip."

She looked down. She was indeed clutching tightly onto his wrist, two of her nails digging into the palm of his hand. She jerked her hand away, flushing in the process. "Sorry," she grumbled.

"S'okay," he shrugged. "Glad to be of service."

She gave him a funny look then. "You're a little odd. You know that, right?"

He shrugged, rewarding her by broadening his grin. Ginny rolled her eyes playfully this time and swept her eyes over the surrounding passengers again. Constant vigilance, as the late Mad-Eye would say. Assured once again that things around her were safe, for the moment at least, Ginny decided to make conversation with the boy that was steadily growing on her, even through her annoyance.

"So Adam, I can tell you're American; why were you in England?"

"Visiting my dad. He's military. He got stationed over there last fall."

"Don't you still have school, though?"

"Easter break. My parents alternate holidays. My dad typically gets me on the ones where there's a big enough break from school. I'm so ready to be eighteen. It's a pain in the ass going back and forth all the time."

Ginny was only half listening. She had completely forgotten about the Easter hols this year. No one else in her family seemed to notice either. It was moments like this when she was reminded of how draining the war had become.

"How old are you?" she heard herself asking. Well, at least some part of her consciousness was paying attention.

"Sixteen," Adam replied. "You?"

"Twenty."

He sized her up. "Huh…I'd pegged you for a little older."

She certainly felt it sometimes.

"So where are you going?" he asked when she didn't respond. She looked at him questioningly. "I mean, are you stopping in Georgia, or are you on the layover flight like me?"

"Oh," she quickly thought through the list of stops she'd be making: Georgia, New York, Denver, Dallas, Sacramento. "Er…I've got several layovers, actually." She didn't want to say where she was actually going. She still wasn't totally sure how secure this flight was.

"Bummer," Adam grimaced in sympathy. "Home's in Houston for me."

"You don't sound very southern."

Her comment earned her another smirk. "Not everyone in the south sounds like some cowboy, ma'am," he teased, lacing a thick Texas twang through his remark.

Ginny grinned and rolled her eyes. If there was one thing she was learning, it was that her flight with Adam probably wasn't going to be boring. He was more than willing to stay engaged in conversation, and throughout the next several hours, he kept her intriguingly entertained.

She was proud of herself, really. She'd been wise about her time with her new friend, him being a Muggle and her about to be impersonating one for who knows how long…

She asked about what kinds of things he liked to do, taking mental notes and asking questions about activities she wasn't familiar with. He showed her how to work his cell phone and his MP3 player, which played Muggle music through some things called ear buds. He taught her how to play a few Muggle games with a deck of cards he'd brought with him, and she had asked about differences in culture that he'd noticed during his visit. Apparently, she would not be old enough to consume alcohol in America until August. A slight disappointment, but she didn't drink that often.

The one biggie she was worried about…it sounded like she might need to learn how to drive a car. Apparently, at least according to Adam, it was practically a crime if you didn't get your license at sixteen. His mum had started teaching him when he was fourteen. She was so behind.

Close to the end of the flight, their talk had died out. Adam was now lightly snoring and drooling against the window. Ginny had yet to notice any other slightly suspicious behavior. The man up front had even passed her for the bathroom a couple of hours ago and didn't even pay her a passing glance. Perhaps she had made it out safely.

When it came time to land, she nudged her new friend awake. He'd warned her that the descent could be as bad as the takeoff for some people. He grumbled and fished in his pocket for some more gum for the two of them, and this time she gladly took his hand on the way down.

She was a little sad to have to leave Adam as she followed the other passengers off the plane. It would have been nice having someone to talk to until her next flight. But his ticket connected him directly to Houston. He had given her his cell phone number, though, and she tucked it carefully in her back pocket for later. It was likely she'd never see him again, but she didn't know anyone in this country. It felt better having a contact of sorts. You never knew, right?

The first place Ginny went after arriving at the airport in Georgia was the bathroom. She had _refused_ to use the tiny cubicle she'd found on the plane, and her bladder was about ready to burst. She hung her bag on a hook on the stall door, and once her body was relieved and she could process a thought other than _do not wet your pants_, she pulled her wand from her boot and held it up to her throat.

"_The last bit of my disguise,"_ she thought as she considered what kind of accent to give herself. She mulled over the various American accents she'd overheard today. She recalled the business man's voice when he'd requested a drink. He had a brusque way of speaking, and he talked really fast. There were a couple of women in the middle of a conversation about lip gloss over at the sinks at the moment. One did something really odd with her r's, and the other had a deep southern twang similar to the one Adam had used mockingly. She rather enjoyed Adam's accent, actually. It had a pleasant sound, and once she'd learned he was from Texas, she'd been able to detect a slight southern drawl behind some of his words.

Concentrating as hard as she could, (she didn't want her old accent to bleed through when she wasn't paying attention) she focused on the way her new friend's words sounded as they rolled off his tongue and silently cast the charm Hermione had her practicing for the past week. The second she had performed it, she knew she had done it well because even her thoughts had begun processing in the new intonation. They'd barely done that when she'd practiced.

Ginny took a deep breath, tucking her wand away once again before grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder and across her body. She was keeping it as close to her as possible. Everything she owned, or at least all of the Muggle approved items she was able to bring, was in that bag, thanks to one of Hermione's incredible, Undetectable Extension Charms. She'd be lost without it.

Stepping out of the stall, Ginny went to wash her hands at the sinks and looked in the mirror. The nine hour flight had not done her any favors. She ran her fingers through her messy hair, pulling the brown strands back into a ponytail. A part of the Muggle glamour techniques she, Hermione, and Fleur had spent the later part of yesterday putting together. It looked nice, but she would miss her red. Her brown eyes were also gone, now replaced with a dark, grayish blue color, and thanks to Fleur's extensive knowledge with makeup and all things girly, even her own face was hardly recognizable. She sighed at the thought of messing with the stuff every day. She certainly couldn't rely on Polyjuice Potion to hold a new appearance for her, though, not with potions so hard to come by.

They'd spared as much of the Polyjuice Potion available as they dared for Hermione to Apparate her to the airport that morning. They'd come as twins in Ginny's new look and sported a deep, Scottish brogue with the help of the voice modifying charm. It had been a tearful hug goodbye as her "twin" left her at the baggage scanning area. Hermione had become a sister to her over the years, though, and it felt good to let a few tears fall. She hadn't been able to do that when she'd said goodbye to her brothers the night before. She'd kept as pleasant a face as possible around them, preferring to come across as confident and hopeful rather than scared and grumpy. The latter two she'd only shown to Hermione and Fleur.

"_I hate it," Ginny grimaced at her reflection in her bedroom mirror back at the burrow._

_Fleur came up, adjusting a lock of the dyed hair as she gave her sister-in-law's new look thoughtful consideration. "Well, I'll admit it eez not you, but you do look lovely." Her English pronunciation had improved greatly over the years, but her French influence did slip through at times._

"_It needed to be a drastic change," Hermione added, giving her a sympathetic look over her shoulder._

"_I know," Ginny sighed. "I suppose it will just take some getting used to."_

"_Zat's zee spirit," Fleur smiled encouragingly. She picked up a small brown pencil. "Now, are you going to remember how to do all zis, or should I explain it again?"_

"_I think I got it," Ginny replied, not really interested in sitting through another demonstration. She was going to miss her days of a simple coat of powder and mascara. Seeing her sister-in-law's doubtful expression, she added, "It'll have to be done again before I leave. I can watch you do Hermione's, and then I can do my own for practice."_

_Fleur nodded, appeased, and went to help Hermione with the last bit of packing, leaving Ginny to continue staring at the girl in the mirror she did not recognize. Her gaze shifted to the room reflected from behind her. Only half of her possessions still out, the room seemed barren and unfamiliar._

_She watched Fleur folding one of the blouses she had sewn for her in the last several days. She'd have to have a different wardrobe to go with a different face, after all. Hermione was tucking the handmade quilt her mum had made for her the summer before she started Hogwarts into the bag on the bed. The two items contradicted so much, a part of different lives. One from a happy childhood, a time of innocence before anything dark had touched her. The other a part of a fabrication yet to be developed, one she'd have to live in, alone and not as herself. It was all a bit overwhelming in that moment._

_Ginny bent her head, blinking back tears that were insistently trying to leak through._

"_Ginny?" She heard Hermione whisper softly._

_She looked up to meet the gazes of the two other women in the mirror. It was then that her frustration broke through. She stamped her foot. "I don't want to have to leave," she fumed as the stubborn tears began to wet her lashes. It wasn't fair. It really wasn't fair._

"_Oh, but, Ginny, you must," Fleur immediately began to protest. "For everyone's peace of mind, for your brozers and your dad. We all need to know you'll be safe."_

"_Why am I not safe enough here?" she countered. "We've got the Fidelous, and everyone_ needs _me here."_

_Hermione took a few tentative steps towards the explosive red head. "Everyone needs you_ safe _more, Ginny, and you know why we can't fully trust the Fidelius anymore."_

_She sighed. She did know. Their Secret Keeper was missing. Her family had full faith in Lee, but with You-Know-Who being such a strong Legilimens…it just wasn't a sure thing any longer._

"_Think of what it would do to Harry if something happened to you," her bushy haired friend added after the silent pause._

_That was enough to send Ginny's anger crackling again. "Don't talk to me about Harry, not if you're still refusing to tell me where he is," she fumed. The blasted idiot hadn't even tried to see her since she'd agreed to go on this little 'trip'. Enthrall her with those breathtaking green eyes of his, make her leave her home and her family when she was perfectly capable of defending herself, and then not even bother to show himself for a proper goodbye?! The wizard had nerve._

"_Ginny…" Hermione sighed, her tone half exasperated, half sympathetic._

"_I'd like to see my boyfriend, the love of my life, one last time before I'm shipped away!" she exclaimed. Hermione was shaking her head, though, so she knew she wasn't going to get anything out of her. "Do you at least know if he's planning on showing himself within the next couple of hours?" she asked heatedly, her hands placed defiantly on her hips._

"_It's Harry, Ginny. I'm sure he's still arguing with himself over whether or not he's willing to risk it." Ginny's eyes began to water, and she nodded. She was a risk then. Hermione gently added. "But knowing Harry, he'll figure out what's the better choice."_

"_Which is the one that doesn't involve the use of your infamous Bat Bogey Hex," a deep voice said from her bedroom doorway. Ginny turned to face her eldest brother. Bill was leaning casually against the doorframe, a teasing, yet understanding smile on his face. "He'll come, Gin."_

_Something about hearing her brother say those words was reassuring, and she quickly crossed the room to wrap him in a hug. "Thanks, Bill."_

_He kissed the top of her head. "Anytime, kiddo," and he laughed when she slapped his arm._

Ginny pulled herself from her memory there, realizing she couldn't waste all day staring at a foreign version of herself in a mirror.

After a few touch ups to her makeup, she located her next flight and spent a few minutes browsing a couple of gift shops. She didn't buy anything, but she did stop at a small kiosk for a pack of gum. She fumbled with the new currency some and blushed uncomfortably when she noticed a woman watching her. She'd been considering stopping at a restaurant, McDonalds the sign said, across the way where many Muggles were purchasing breakfast, but after that humiliating attempt, she chose to go find a seat in the waiting area instead. And wasn't it just her luck that the woman from the kiosk chose a seat a few rows away only minutes later? She smiled when she noticed Ginny glancing her way and then turned to talk to a man in a red cap next to her as though there had been nothing to take note of.

Ginny sighed. She really was full of herself to think a woman she didn't even know was going to give a Hipogriff's beak if she could count money or not.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was nine AM here. It would be mid-afternoon back home. She thought about what her family was probably doing now. Were they okay without her? She worried about her dad the most. She'd seen how close to tears he'd been the night before.

_After a few minutes of joking around with Bill and a heartfelt and easy hug goodnight (and goodbye), Ginny decided it would be easier to see everyone that night rather than grasping for hugs in the wee hours of the morning. Godric only knew if her emotions would hold in check then._

_She found Percy polishing his shoes in his bedroom, where she then received a lecture on proper organization for her travel plans. Rolling her eyes, she told her brother that she'd miss him, too, and they parted with a strong embrace._

_The next flight of stairs led her to the room George now shared with Charlie. It had been too much for him to stay in the room he'd shared with Fred. Her dad slept there most nights now. Her mum wasn't really in a state to share a bed anymore._

_The mood was a bit lighter in George and Charlie's room. It would never be the same as if Fred had been there, but Charlie made for a good substitute to the twins' humor. She'd walked away with lungs squeezed of air, a smile on her face, and a scorch mark on her shoe Fleur was sure to huff and have kittens over if she saw it._

_Ginny paused on the landing that held the door to her parents' bedroom. She wanted her last memory of her mum to be a good one, and a sweet mother-daughter moment the evening prior had awarded her with reassurances and promises for a better future. She didn't want to give that up. Thankfully, her father stepped from the room before she could debate it too long._

_After a small double take, she was greeted with, "Blimey, that's different. Hi, sweetheart," Arthur Weasley's blue eyes smiled sadly at his daughter._

"_Hi, Daddy. What do you think?" she asked, gesturing to her head._

"_You look lovely, as always, Princess. I'll miss the red, though."_

"_Me, too."_

"_Your mum's asleep right now if you'd like to tell her goodbye."_

"_No," she shook her head. "I was coming to find you."_

_He smiled, and they went down to the sitting room. The eldest Weasley sat in his old recliner and patted his knee for her to come sit on his lap like she had when she was little. Ginny smiled and took her spot, settling in against her daddy's chest._

"_It's going to be strange without you here," he said after several quiet minutes. "I'm going to miss you. You remind me so much of your mum, flitting about the house taking care of everyone, cleaning up after all of us and keeping food in our bellies."_

"_I could stay, you know…" she hedged carefully._

"_No. You can't." Her father's response was firm but not hard._

_Ginny sighed. "Promise me you'll be okay without me here."_

"_Princess…the only way I will be okay is if I know you're safe. Your brothers and I will be fine."_

"_What if this goodbye is forever?" she asked quietly, almost afraid to say the words. She immediately regretted the question. Her dark thoughts were meant for her to worry about._

_Arthur Weasley pulled his grown baby girl into a hug and then eased back to meet her eyes. "It won't be. It's as simple as that."_

_Ginny could see the impending tears swimming in her father's gaze, and she flung her arms around his neck for another solid hug. He squeezed her back, holding tight as they blinked away tears._

"_Have you finished saying goodbye to all of your brothers?" he asked before letting her go._

"_I still need to see Ron."_

"_Go then," her father said, pushing her up. "Ginny," he called when she reached the door._

"_Yeah?"_

"_I love you."_

"_I love you, too, Daddy."_

_It had been talking to Ron that had kept her sane after that. He was the brother she'd always been closest to. She'd had the most time with him growing up, and once she and Harry had become an item, she'd come into his social group even more. It was only these last few years she hadn't really been able to see him too often. It pained her for why he was here now, but she was still glad for the time they'd had recently._

_She knocked gently and eased the door open. "Hey," she greeted. "Thought you could use this." She held out a sandwich. Dinner had been nearly three hours ago so she was sure he was nearly wasting away. In his head, at least._

"_Merlin," he gaped, arm only half outstretched for the plate. "Is that you, Ginny?"_

_She rolled her eyes. "No, it's the lead singer from the Weird Sisters. Of course it's me, you prat!"_

_Coming out of his shock, Ron took the plate and began eyeing the sandwich as if trying to decide what spot would be the most delicious place to start. "You don't have to be sarcastic," he said as he lifted the food to his mouth. "And I wouldn't joke like that. She's a Death Eater, you know."_

"_Who is?" she asked as she pulled a chair up next to his bed and took a seat. "The singer?" Ron nodded and began to answer with his mouth full. "Chew first," she requested._

"_She was one of the ones that showed up when the Snatchers snagged me in January. Showed up with Dolohov and Malfoy," Ron answered once his mouth was clear of all food._

"She's _the one who did this to you?" Ginny asked reproachfully, pointing at her brother's leg through the sheets. "How's it feeling tonight, by the way? Do I need to take a look at it?"_

"_Probably wouldn't hurt," he replied, pulling the sheet to the side so she could get to his bandage. "And no, she didn't do that. That was all Malfoy._ She _was the one that tossed that lovely Cutting Curse my way."_

"_You were so lucky Hermione had enough Dittany left to treat that. Your shoulder would've never been the same if that wound hadn't been sealed soon enough," Ginny said as she pulled the bandage back from his leg to reveal an open, oozing wound that stretched several inches down the side of his thigh. Hit with a deep Cutting Curse and followed up with a splash of poison that affected the muscle, the skin around the wound was raised and purple. It looked revolting._

_Being as gentle as possible, Ginny inspected the affected area. "It seems to be oozing a little less than it was last week," she commented as she went to gather some herbs and bandages from a shelf a few feet away._

"_Damn thing needs to heal already," Ron grumbled as she approached the bed again._

_She smiled sympathetically. "You know that won't happen any time soon, not with all of the controls on potion making."_

_The wound could heal properly in next to no time with the right potion, but it was pretty much impossible for a blood traitor family to be approved for even the most basic potion making ingredients, much less the rarer items they'd need for this. As a result, they were left with soap, water, and what medicinal herbs Ginny could keep growing in the garden._

"_Hold still, please," she instructed as she began tending the affected area._

_Ron winced but did as she asked. "You'd be a good healer, you know," he said once she was done. "Have you thought about it, you know, for one day, in the future…when things aren't like this?"_

"_At this point, I take it day by day, Ron." Or the next time she got to see Harry, anyway._

"_Yeah," her brother nodded thoughtfully. "You heard from Harry yet?"_

_She immediately frowned. "No."_

_Ron's expression turned to one similar to hers. "How long until you leave?"_

"_Why? You wondering if you've got enough time to fool around with Hermione first?"_

_He smirked. "Hey…if she's willing, and I'm able…"_

"_Ugh…" Ginny groaned. "I don't need that picture in my head!"_

"_So am I in the clear, Healer Weasley? I'll let her do most of the work." He waggled his eyebrows at her, extending her torture._

"_Ron! Ugh! Yes, okay. It's fine. Ugh. New subject, please."_

"_Hey, you brought it up."_

_She shook her head, still trying to rid herself of a most unwanted vision. "There's about five hours until we leave, and after that most unpleasant bit of our conversation, I'm going to bed."_

_He chuckled and added before she left the room, "I'll miss you, Ginny."_

_She paused in the doorway to smile back at the brother she was going to miss the most. "I'll miss you, too, Ron."_

"_Send Hermione up."_

"_Ugh!" she cried, shutting the door loudly behind her._

Those five hours had passed much too quickly for her liking, and with the time difference, she was exhausted. There was a rustling next to her, and her head jerked up. She looked around hastily for the source of the noise. The woman from before smiled at her.

"Sorry, didn't mean to wake you. You ticket slipped from your lap, and I was tucking it into the pocket of your bag for you."

"Oh, uh, thanks," Ginny replied stupidly as she rubbed at a kink in her neck where her head had lolled to the side. She scooted up straighter and pulled out a piece of gum for good measure. She hadn't even realized she'd been nodding off, even if it was only part way.

"_You're supposed to be cautious,"_ she chastised herself for the second time that day. _"Wake up, Ginny. You didn't go through all those goodbyes and leave everyone important behind you for nothing!"_


	2. Chapter 2: Followed

**Followed**

"_Something's wrong. Something must have gone wrong,"_ Harry thought to himself as he anxiously paced the small length of the abandoned cabin he and Hermione had stumbled upon earlier that month.

They were going to have to leave and find a place to camp again. Harry knew it; down in his gut, he was sure of it. They'd pushed their time there really, but it had been a nice change of pace from the tent they'd been calling home for the past several years, and he'd wanted to be nearby Ginny until they'd gotten her safely into hiding.

He wondered again where Hermione could possibly be. By the sun now beginning to peek through the trees, it had been an entire day since Ginny's first flight would have taken off.

And Hermione still wasn't back.

He prayed they were both safe, but he knew all the possibilities of things that could have gone wrong. Death Eaters could have been keeping watch. They could have stumbled across something when they Apparated. The Invisibility Cloak could have slipped. A comment or certain mannerism could have even tipped someone off if they weren't being careful enough. A thousand things could have gone wrong.

"_Maybe I should look for them,"_ he thought as he turned to pace the length of the room again.

He was in the middle of discussing the pros and cons of such a move with himself when the door to the cabin burst open and a mess of windswept brown hair stumbled into the room.

Harry did a double take. "Gin?"

"Cast a Silencing Charm, Harry, _now_."

He hastily whipped out his wand, performing the spell that was now as easy as taking a breath. "Hermione, what happened? You should have been back ages ago," he said, his eyes glued to the girl who still looked like his girlfriend as she hurried across the room to peek through the curtains closed over the window.

"We have to leave, Harry. How long will it take us to pack?"

"Already done," he replied, already tuned to her urgency. He grabbed the satchel Hermione had charmed for him and slung it over his back.

Hermione paused and looked at him. "I told you a secret after the Snatchers attacked last winter. What was it?"

Harry lowered his voice, speaking quietly of the information even his best friend did not yet know. "You'd just found out you were pregnant. The curse Dolohov hit you with caused you to lose the baby."

She nodded, her grayish blue contacts in danger of swimming away.

"I confided this to you the Christmas after the Battle. Who do I feel the most guilt over not being able to save?" he asked his question.

"Mrs. Weasley." Hermione held her hand out for his. "Come on."

Seconds later, they were in a clearing. Both their wands out and ready to go they began casting the protective charms that would hide them from anyone wandering the woods.

"I'm so sorry, Harry," Hermione began to cry as they worked. "I know we wanted to be able to go back to the cabin again, but a Snatcher grabbed onto my arm as I Disapparated. The only reason we made it out that easily is because he Splinched. I went to our safe spot behind the trees, but all he'd have to do is follow my direction, and he'd find the cabin."

"No, Hermione, it's fine about the cabin," Harry quickly assured her. There were a lot more important things to be worried about. "You're okay, aren't you?" She nodded, still visibly upset. "You said a Snatcher grabbed you. How long was he after you? Why do you still look like Ginny?"

"I'd been trying to get away from them since yesterday morning. Oh, I was so stupid, Harry. I know I was supposed to come right back to the cabin after leaving Ginny, but I knew we were low on food. I decided to get a few things from the Muggle market under the cloak. I left some money on the counter like we always do, and I was out in no time, but when I went back to the alley to Disapparate, the cloak slipped just as the Snatchers were passing. I had to run, and I kept trying to slip away, but they managed to stay so close. I knew there was a risk of them following me back so I had to keep up with the potion. They couldn't see it was me, or a whole brigade of major Death Eaters would have been brought in. We're out of Polyjuice now," she added dejectedly.

Harry went to go sit on the log next to Hermione where she had plopped herself during her speech. He placed a comforting arm around her shoulders. "I'm disappointed about the Polyjuice, but seriously, Hermione, don't worry about it or the cabin. I'm just glad you made it back alright." She nodded, his words clearly helping. "Thanks for going for food, too. I'm starving for something decent."

She laughed. "You sound like Ron."

He smirked slightly at the comparison. He missed his best mate. "So…" he hedged now that Hermione had calmed some, "Does this mean that things went okay at the airport?"

He waited with his gut in knots for her answer. Hermione smiled at him with Ginny's mouth, causing a mixed reaction for him. He knew this was his friend, but Godric, did he miss Ginny.

"I don't think you have anything to worry about. I scouted from the cloak until she was out of sight, and no one looked suspicious."

At hearing that, the first real breath of relief hit Harry's lungs since Hermione had thrown open the cabin door, but as the morning ticked on and they munched on their breakfast of eggs, cheese, and apples, the uneasy feeling he'd had before had returned…and he couldn't shake it.

Ginny trudged off the plane in Dallas, Texas. The stewardess had just announced it was 11:05 PM, which meant they'd arrived twenty minutes behind schedule. Those were twenty minutes she hadn't wanted to waste. It seemed like forever since she'd slept, and not a single one of her layovers between flights had been longer than a couple of hours. A huge chunk of that time she often used trying to navigate her way around and drinking Muggle potions called Red Bull to keep her alert. Alert, but still exhausted.

This was the first stop she was making where she would be able to catch up on sleep, and she'd wanted every second of those eight hours Percy had allotted in her schedule. She followed the other passengers down the corridor. This was her system, follow the herd until they passed a bathroom, and then locate an airport employee that could direct her on where to go next.

In this case, she wanted a hotel or local inn of some kind. Hermione had explained that Muggles had all kinds of transportation set up for such things. All she had to do was ask.

Leaving the bathroom stall that to her looked exactly like the one back in Georgia, Ginny went to wash up at the sinks. She was tempted to splash some water on her face, but her makeup was already looking strained. Touch ups would no longer do it much good.

A sluggish mental calculation told her it had been 24 hours since she'd said goodbye to Hermione back in London. Her makeup had been freshly applied an hour prior, and she'd only managed to doze off for about an hour before that. She was in definite need of a decent night's rest.

She groaned inwardly at the thought of having to sit another five-and-a-half hours on a plane tomorrow after spending an entire, _literal_ day bouncing from airport to airport. She'd be tempted to call it quits here, but her family was expecting her to keep going until she reached California. Once she landed in Sacramento, she was going to find a bus station that could take her near the beach. That was her consolation in all of this. Ginny was going to live near the ocean.

It was obvious the airport was trying to close when she left the restroom. The corridors were almost entirely empty, and all of the shops and restaurants she'd passed since her arrival were closed. That was fine by her. She was so ready to be out of there.

She searched for the sign that would lead her to the exit and, with thoughts of a hot shower and bed on her mind, rushed passed the groups of Muggles hugging and meeting up with their friends and families.

There was an airport employee next to where several pieces of luggage were traveling in a long, curvy shape from a hole in the wall. She knew her dad would be taken in with the Muggle ingenuity of such a device, and truthfully, she would probably be a bit more curious as well, but right now all she cared about was finding a bed.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Ginny found herself crying a moment later. That's what she got for barreling forward. She'd nearly bowled a guy over onto the suitcase he'd been trying to grab. "I wasn't paying attention. Are you okay?" she asked, grabbing his shirt sleeve to help him steady.

He smiled tiredly at her. "Don't worry about it, ma'am. I grew up with three sisters. It'll take more than the clumsiness of a pretty lady like yourself to do me in." He tipped his hat, and she would swear he just winked at her.

"Oh, er, alright." Really. Really. That was her brilliant response.

A couple whispering a few feet away caught her attention, and she turned to find them watching her with the flirty cowboy. They immediately began to pretend that they'd been discussing something about their luggage. Ginny shot them a funny look before smiling goodbye to the man that had thankfully been so gracious of her clumsiness. She really didn't have the patience for people like the other two at the moment.

She approached the man in the black and white uniform that had originally been her target. "Excuse me, sir," she said in her new accent, her drawl more pronounced with her fatigue.

He gave her a broad, white smile in direct contrast with his skin. "May I help you, ma'am?"

"Well, I need to find a hotel for the night, and I was wondering if you had any suggestions?"

"Well, if you would've asked about 15 minutes ago, I would've told you to catch the shuttle bus. Takes you straight to the hotel behind the airport. Last one leaves at eleven, though. It's usually pretty filled up by this time of night anyway."

"Oh," Ginny frowned, hopes of an easy solution floating down the drain.

"Don't worry," the man assured her. "There're still a few hotels just a short ways up the freeway. Got a car?" She shook her head. "Well, the rental desk is closed, but you can easily catch a cab out front."

"How do I do that?" she asked warily.

"Should be some lined up and waiting, being what time it is. If not, you can wait a few minutes to see if you can flag one down or ask an attendant."

"Great, thanks," she nodded dumbly, heading for the doors leading outside. She really was becoming quite adept at navigating her way around these places. She hoped she wouldn't have to flag a cab, though. That sounded complicated.

"I hear the Fairfield's pretty nice for the price," the man called out before she got too far.

"Thanks," she called back, glad for the bit more of direction.

And just like the guy had said, there were a couple of taxi cars waiting in the drop off lane just outside. Ginny hurriedly climbed into the first one, saying, "The Fairfield, please," and sat back as the driver pulled away from the curb.

By the time they reached the hotel, Ginny had pretty much overcome her urge to cringe at riding on the wrong side of the road. It hadn't been too hard for her to ignore it, though. During the short, ten minute drive, Ginny had found herself nearly floored at gazing out the window. The city lights were breathtaking, seeming to stretch out endlessly, and the various freeways twisted and turned in snakelike curves above and below and all around her. Dallas was definitely a huge city. She wondered what it would look like in the morning.

"Twenty-two fifty," the driver said after putting the cab in park.

Ginny pulled out her money purse and handed him a bill. He looked at the twenty she'd given him and back at her.

"More?" she asked. He placed his hand expectantly over the back of the seat. "Sorry, long day," she sighed and pulled out another bill, this time one with the number ten on it. It was simple mathematics, right? Thirty was more than twenty-two. "Keep what's left," she said as she slapped the ten into his hand and climbed from the car.

Inside, there was a woman with a small child already at the counter. Ginny decided to take a seat in a comfy looking chair in the lobby to wait her turn. There was a selection of brochures displayed on a side table, and she had been flipping through the suggested activities for tourists for a couple of minutes when movement by the doors caught her attention.

She looked up to see the couple who'd been rudely staring at her and the nice cowboy back at the airport baggage claim. The man glanced at her from the corner of his eye before turning to talk to his wife in a hushed tone. Narrowing her eyes, Ginny went back to the brochure but kept a cautious eye on the two over the top of the page. Something felt off.

The woman soon came to sit down on the couch opposite her while her husband stood to wait his turn at the counter. Every nerve in Ginny's body was now on full alert. She was certain they were watching her every bit as closely as she was watching them.

Setting her reading material down, Ginny stood to go peruse a stand near the lifts with more brochures. There was a mirror on the wall behind the chair she'd been sitting in earlier, and if she angled herself correctly, she was able to use it to keep an inconspicuous eye on the two in question.

She really hoped she was just being paranoid. She was overly tired so that could easily be the case. The man wasn't doing anything suspicious. He was standing patiently on the open side of the counter drumming his fingers. She watched as he reached to scratch under the edge of his red cap and then turned her attention back to the woman. Ginny couldn't pinpoint what exactly, but she could feel she was missing something here.

"_Their luggage,"_ she realized, doing a quick, confirming scan between the two of them. _"They don't have any luggage."_ It didn't make sense for them to be arguing about it back at the baggage claim if they didn't have any. They didn't even have a carry-on bag like herself and every other passenger she'd seen that day.

She quickly thought back, trying to remember if she even recalled _seeing_ them on her last flight. That would be a big, fat _no_. She'd done two cautionary perusals of the cabin, _pretending_ to use that horrid restroom, and this couple did not ring a bell. They did seem familiar, though…

And suddenly it all clicked. Her eyes snapped to the woman sitting on the sofa. She was staring back at Ginny in the mirror's reflection now. _"The woman from the kiosk in Georgia,"_ she thought as it all sunk in. The man in the red cap she'd sat in the waiting area with. It was them.

The woman must have realized that she'd finally been recognized because she smiled…an evil, twisted smile that had Ginny's gut in her throat. Any thoughts of a possible coincidence were completely gone. She had been followed, by Death Eaters.

What happened next was all in a matter of seconds. The woman jumped up from the sofa, her wand appearing suddenly from Godric knew where. Ginny shot around the corner of the lifts, pulling her wand from her boot as she ran. She ducked through the first door she saw, relieved that there were no Muggles in the pool.

She desperately searched the space for something that could help her, knowing she needed to act fast. She could hear the footsteps hurrying toward her, and the wall separating her from the Death Eaters was glass. They would see anything she did now. Praying for a stroke of luck, she pointed her wand at the only other door in the room, thought, _"Alohamora,"_ and darted inside a room with various buckets, nets on long sticks, and other paraphernalia. There was no way out.

Before she even had time to try to formulate a plan, the door began pushing open again. Ginny threw herself against it, using all the force she could muster with her small frame. The edge of the door slammed into the woman's face, and she was pushed back, her head contacting hard with the wall behind her before she slid ungracefully to the floor. Ginny hurriedly kicked the wand away from the unconscious form, a feeling of satisfaction hitting her at seeing the blood gushing from the Death Eater's face. Her moment of appreciation was short, though, and she braced herself for her exit. The man would not be far behind.

She threw open the door and immediately felt an arm close around her waist. The tip of a wand pressed into the small of her back, causing a sharp pain to shoot through the muscle. "Thought you could get away, did you?" The male Death Eater's breath was hot against her ear.

No. She _knew_ she could. Her wand arm was pinned against her, but having six older brothers hadn't taught her nothing. Ginny clenched the fist on her free arm, bringing it forward before she threw it back so her elbow connected hard with his gut. The resounding 'oomph' that followed told her she'd nailed her mark.

"You little bitch," he wheezed.

Not wasting a moment, she spun from his loosened grasp to clutch his shoulders. "No, this makes me a bitch," she bit before drawing her knee up to connect squarely with his bollocks. He groaned and doubled over in response. Incapacitated, but Ginny knew not for long. She needed one more assault if she was going to escape. Her knee still a handy weapon, she jerked it up again and smiled at the sound of nasal cartilage crunching. As a final touch, she lunged herself against the whimpering Death Eater's form, sending him over the edge of the pool into the water.

And then she fled.

"Is everything okay, miss?" the guy behind the counter asked as she ran past.

"Fine," she called back before she flew out the front doors of the hotel. A group of drunken blokes were pouring out of a cab just outside. She shoved the last one aside and threw herself into the backseat of the car. "The nearest bus station, please, quickly."

A balding, middle-aged man with a large gut and a comb-over peered at her through the rearview mirror. "My shift's done, miss. I'm off duty."

Ginny hastily pulled a number of the twenty dollar bills from her purse and tossed them over the seat at the man. "There, that should be plenty for your troubles; now go!"

The offer must have been enough because the cab was soon pulling out onto the access road with Ginny in the back. She looked out her window before the hotel was out of sight…and saw a very angry, dripping wet Death Eater glaring after her.

She stayed on alert for the first several minutes of the drive. She had no idea how the Death Eaters were going to try to follow her, but she knew they would.

She tried to think of how they'd even been able to find her in the first place. No one but her family knew of her plans, and she and Hermione had been so careful that morning. It just didn't make sense, and her brain simply wasn't wanting to cooperate. She decided to put it aside for a time; her full attention was needed elsewhere at the moment.

Busy watching for signs of unwanted company out the windows, she listened with only half attention when the cab driver started a conversation with someone through another electnic device she'd never seen before. It reminded her of the way Adam had explained a cell phone was used except the man wasn't holding anything up to his ear.

"Yeah," the driver grunted.

"Brody, where ya at, man?" a voice replied. "Gotta call in here at the station. Some guy called in with your cab number. Thinks he left his wallet in your backseat."

Brody scoffed. "Good luck if it's still there. I'm just doin' one more drop off before I bring it in. Takin' a lady to the bus station. Hey, miss, do you see a wallet back there?" he directed the question back at her.

Ginny pulled her eyes away from the windows to glance down at the seat. Too dark to really see, she ran a hand over the battered upholstery. "I'm not finding one," she answered.

"Great…" Brody said in a dry tone before returning to his other conversation. "I'll have to check when I get to the bus station, Gus. Where'd I drop this guy off at, anyway?"

"Said you'd just let him off at the Fairfield about ten minutes ago," Gus replied.

"Dang, one of those drunken idiots. Better not be the one that nearly tossed his cookies in my car," Brody went on, but Ginny was no longer paying attention.

"_The Fairfield."_ She swept her hands over the seat again, digging down in the cracks, even resorting to unbuckling to slide her feet across and under the front seats. There was no wallet, and she had a very bad feeling that the guy that had called the taxi station _knew_ there wouldn't be.

"_No, no, no, no, no!"_ she thought in desperate frustration. Her driver wasn't exactly the brightest egg in the dragon's nest. She knew it would only take a few cleverly worded comments to get him to spill where he'd let her off at.

The last of the conversation up front caught her attention once again.

"Alright," Gus was saying, "Well, I just had Murphy tell him you'll head his way once you're done at the bus station. Told him to wait in the lobby for ya."

"_What?! No!"_ A whole new state of panic hit Ginny at that news. _"Way to go, Gus. Just outright_ tell _the people bloody trying to kill me exactly where I'm going!"_ There'd be no need for manipulating Brody now. She'd just lost precious time.

"How much longer 'til we get there?" she asked as soon as the dialogue ended up front.

"Traffic flowin' the way it is…" Brody paused as if considering, "I'd say about five minutes."

Five minutes. She had a feeling Death Eaters could make a lot of head way in five minutes. "Step on it," she instructed, tossing a ten up front.

Ginny was bolting from the car only three and a half minutes later, and the first thing she noticed was the deserted state of the station. She ran to the window with the tickets sign. An old man was leaning back in a chair behind the glass, reading a Muggle newspaper. Without looking up, he said lazily, "Only got one bus left leaving tonight. If it's not where you're headed, you'll have to come back tomorrow."

"Don't care. Just need a ticket," Ginny said hastily.

"Round trip or one way?"

"One way," she replied impatiently.

"Forty-five dollars."

She quickly pulled out the correct amount of bills and shoved them across the counter. The old man set aside his newspaper just long enough to count her money and ring up the ticket.

"Here you go," he passed it through the window and, in a manner similar to the very essence of boredom, pointed to where the bus would be waiting. "Better hurry. It's about to leave."

"_Thank Merlin,"_ she praised at that as she ran through the archway and onto the platform where a lone bus sat with its lights on and engine running, waiting to go. It was a glorious sight.

She hurried up the steps, and the doors shut behind her. She had to wait for the driver to inspect her ticket and then found a spot towards the back where two adjacent seats were open. She collapsed into the seat by the window, relieved at the stroke of luck.

No, she wasn't going to get her eight hours in a bed tonight, and yes, she had somehow been found and followed by Death Eaters. But she had escaped. Even if they knew where she was going, there was no way they would be able to reach her in time. The bus was already pulling away from the station. The problem would be when the bus stopped. The two Death Eaters tracking her had brains, and she knew it would only be a short matter of time before they determined that this would have been the only ticket she could have purchased.

Now that the immediate danger had passed, her adrenaline burst was depleting, and Ginny was aching for a few uncomfortable hours of sleep against the window. However, it seemed wise to first figure out where it was she was going exactly. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head when she read what her ticket said. She was on her way to _Houston,_ Texas.


	3. Chapter 3: Regrouping

**Regrouping**

"Miss…miss." Ginny slowly opened her eyes and then jerked as a hand closed on her arm. "Oh, sorry, dear, but you asked me to wake you up when we were about thirty minutes away."

Ginny stared blearily through dry eyes at the face of the older woman as her heart pounded in her chest. She'd thought for sure it was a Death Eater.

"Oh. Er. Yeah. Thanks," she replied groggily as her brain processed what was happening. The woman smiled in response and leaned back into her own seat across the aisle. Ginny rubbed the sleep from her eyes and let her head fall back against the window for a few more seconds while she waited for her brain to get going. Releasing a resigned sigh, she then stood and began making her way to the restroom at the back of the bus. She had to see if there was _something_ she could do with her appearance before she arrived in Houston.

Once safely inside with the door locked, she allowed a reluctant glance at herself in the mirror. It was a sight worthy of cringing. Her hair was in a lopsided, tangled mess, her eyes were swollen and terribly bloodshot from lack of sleep, and her makeup was…well, let's just say that overall she'd probably found the one thing that would scare the ghoul from her family's attic.

She let the faucet run cold and then proceeded to scrub what she could of the mess from her face with soap and water. As she cleaned up, she ran her mind back over yesterday.

She was disgusted with herself for nearly being caught by Death Eaters. She should have put it together long before they got that close. The woman in Georgia had not only been British, but she had seen her tickets and flown ahead to her longest layover spot. She had foolishly felt safe by that time and let her guard down, and the lot of them had heard the name of her hotel when she was trying to get a cab.

"_I might as well have just had a big bow wrapped around my neck when I stepped off the plane,"_ she thought bitterly.

But what she really wanted to know was how they had even known to follow her in the first place? She supposed that didn't really matter at this point, though. What mattered now was getting herself out of this mess. Which could be a very huge problem considering two very irate Death Eaters (and possibly more) were probably going to be waiting for her when this bus stopped. Not to mention they already knew pretty much the only disguise she had. The one thing she could think to do was change her outfit and play around with the makeup to try to change her look again. She was hoping to be able to sneak off with a group of people and get lost in the crowd, but basically it was play it by ear. Heck, Harry lived by that plan. Ginny just knew the last thing she wanted was to have to duel with a platform full of Muggles around.

The top few layers of skin now officially scoured from her face, Ginny used her wand to perform a cleansing charm on the rest of her body and began digging through the bag she'd kept securely draped across her front for a change of clothes. It took some shuffling as things had gotten a bit jostled when she'd had to run last night, but she eventually found something she thought might look different enough in style to not draw attention.

A small, blue box caught her attention when she pulled the outfit from the bag. It was a present Hermione had given her at the airport. _"I wanted you to have one last thing for your trip. I'm hoping you won't need it, but you never know,"_ her friend had said. She was supposed to open it once she was on the plane, but with her initial panic and her surprisingly entertaining company, it had completely slipped Ginny's mind.

Curious what Hermione could have sent with her, Ginny pulled the box from the bag and lifted the lid. She'd swear her heart skipped a beat at its contents. There was a folded up piece of parchment tucked into the side, and Ginny quickly unfolded it to read, praying she was looking at what she thought she was.

_Brittney,_

_I'm hoping you won't need this, but I know from heaps of experience that even the best laid plans can fall apart. I know you're resourceful and you're more than capable of handling a difficult situation, but it never hurts to have a little help. I know resources are limited, but I think everyone would be okay with sparing a vial of this to make sure you stay safe. There's enough for one hour. Use it wisely and only if needed._

_Love,_

_Your sister_

_P.S. If you need this, you'll most likely need a new bag. I charmed and packed a second one for you. Just slip the first one inside._

Ginny's hand closed around the parchment as tears of relief stung at her bloodshot eyes. She loved Hermione. Never had she been more grateful for her friend.

Feeling more encouraged and hopeful than she even would have dared a few minutes ago, Ginny quickly mixed the Polyjuice Potion with the hair Hermione had included in the box, and a few minutes later a slender, green-eyed blonde with a long nose and high, prominent cheek bones that looked nothing like her own was staring back at her in the mirror. The girl's build was leaner than hers, but certain attributes were fuller, and the clothes hugged them nicely. Ginny just added a coat of powder and mascara, ran a brush through her hair, and she was done.

The one catch now was that she'd have to wait in the bathroom until everyone else was off the bus. It wouldn't do to walk out looking like an entirely different person. She fished out the new bag and sat on the lid of the toilet seat to wait.

She felt the bus pull to a stop a few minutes later, and when enough time seemed to have passed, she tucked her wand up the frilly, long sleeve of her shirt (since her boots had been compromised) and made her way off the bus.

The platform wasn't nearly as crowded as she'd hoped it would be, and with the exception of a few enthusiastic embraces between Muggles, the overall feel of the bus station was sluggish, which was understandable since the clock displayed outside said it was only four thirty. Still, there were enough people moving along for Ginny to try to blend in.

Staying close but not so close as to intrude, she fell in step with a group of women near her age, nodding along with their conversation as they made their way steadily towards the exit. As she listened to them chatter over their Easter trip and who got first dibs on a shower once they got home, Ginny was doing her best to keep a clandestine eye on her surroundings, praying she didn't look as jumpy as she felt.

"_Breathe, Ginny. Just keep breathing and walking,"_ she told herself as they passed a man with a build uncomfortably close to the Death Eater she'd had to fight earlier. Her hand twisted further into the strap on her bag. _"Just a little further,"_ she encouraged, eyeing a cab pulling up to the curb as her adopted group headed outside.

She followed the women out into the crosswalk and then ducked into the backseat of the cab just as the previous occupant was closing the opposite door.

A surprised driver looked up into the rearview mirror at her. Ginny smiled, trying to maintain an outward appearance opposite the angst plaguing her insides. Not knowing if she'd been spotted or not was about to drive her absolute barmy. She was keeping a discreet, yet very ready hand at her wand.

"Hi, sorry," she said as friendly as possible. "Just wanted to make sure I caught you."

"Okay…well, where are you headed?" the lady up front asked, her manner perplexed and slightly bemused.

"Er…" Ginny's brain decided to freeze. She tried to think of a quick destination, but she didn't know anything about Houston, except that Adam lived there, and she didn't have his address. Her stomach rumbled loudly, and she was suddenly glad it had been nearly twelve hours since she'd last had anything to eat. "Would you know any place I can get breakfast this early? Preferably someplace not too close by?"

She received another odd look. "Sure…" the driver said as she moved the cab out of park.

She took Ginny to a restaurant called Denny's. Surprisingly, even at five AM the restaurant was busy enough for Ginny to go in and head straight for the restrooms without being spotted. As hungry as she was, she needed to wait for the Polyjuice Potion to wear off first. She could just imagine the looks on all of the customers' faces when she morphed uncomfortably into an entirely different person right in front of them.

As she waited, she changed her clothes again, just for extra measure. She really didn't think she'd been spotted back at the bus station, although Ginny had finally noticed the female Death Eater as the cab pulled away. The woman's attention had been completely fixated on the dwindling crowd. She didn't once glance in Ginny's direction.

For this reason alone, Ginny was able to enjoy her breakfast with a thin sense of calm, though she did ask to be sat at the back and insisted on the booth with a partial wall in the back corner. She doubted she'd be able to fully relax until she was sure she'd fully shaken her unwanted company. That and she needed a plan. Her old itinerary was definitely shot. She could not set foot close to Sacramento. She wondered if still finding a place near the beach was too risky. Would Voldemort and his Death Eaters think to keep looking for her that way? Ugh…she just didn't know. She needed sleep and a safe place to think before she could make any big decisions like this.

"Here you go, hun," the plump waitress that had taken her order said merrily as she approached. "One sweet tea. Your pancakes and bacon should be out in just a few minutes… Did I not get that right?" she asked at Ginny's expression which had been staring confusedly at the glass set in front of her. "It was _sweet_ tea, wasn't it? Or did you want un?"

"No, I asked for sweet," Ginny replied slowly. "I just, uh, wasn't expecting the ice."

"Ah," the woman smiled. "Lived up north a while, have ya? Sorry, hun, you're not gonna find much hot tea around here, especially in April. I can bring you something else if you like."

Ginny took a sip from the tall glass before answering. It was different but still good. "No, it's fine. Thank you."

"Good," her waitress was obviously pleased. "Is there anything else I can get ya real quick?"

"Uh, well, would there happen to be a phone I can use here?" she asked hopefully. "I'm kind of in town unexpectedly, and I need to reach a friend."

"Sorry," the woman replied regretfully. "The manager doesn't allow customers to use the phone unless it's an emergency. The old rat's back in the kitchen right now, or I'd say go ahead."

"Oh," she said dejectedly, her face falling into a frown. _"Well, so much for that idea,"_ she thought as her waitress headed off to another table. She was going to have to find another way to get a hold of a phone if she wanted to reach Adam. Which she definitely did.

She'd pondered it over on the bus a bit before. She wasn't going to drag Death Eaters to his door, but since she had somehow found a way out of the bus station… _"The Death Eaters never saw him, and he can help you stay hidden here, at least long enough to put another plan together,"_ she thought. _"It's the right move to make. Coincidences like this don't just come from nowhere…"_

"Alright…pancakes, bacon," the waitress buzzed cheerily as she appeared with Ginny's food, saying each item as she set its plate down. "_And_…I managed to wrangle up somethin' else for ya, too," she added as she pulled an object from her apron.

Ginny reached somewhere between stunned and eagerly for the cell phone being handed to her. "Thank you," she gushed. "But I thought…?"

"It belongs to one of the waiters. I could tell how much you really needed to make that call so I asked around a bit. Just give that friend of yours a call, and I'll pick the phone up next time I come by to check on ya."

"Thank you," Ginny said again, meaning every ounce of her appreciation.

The waitress beamed right back at her. "No problem, hun. Enjoy your breakfast."

Ginny hurriedly dug out the slip of paper she'd stored in her money purse and tried punching in the number the way Adam had shown her on the plane. There were a few fumbled attempts and a grunt of frustration before she figured out she had to hit _send_ if she wanted it to actually ring. She played with the placement of the phone the first ring or two, trying to figure out how Adam was even supposed to hear her if the bottom of it didn't even reach her mouth, when an idle glance out the window reminded her how very early it still was. The sun wasn't even up yet.

A few nerves of anxiety turned in her stomach. This call was already a bit of a stretch on their new friendship without her waking him up on top of it.

"Unnnhh," came a grunt over the phone.

"Adam?" Ginny asked, feeling rotten for obviously dragging him from sleep.

"Rrr, yeah?" the voice croaked.

"Hi, Adam, I'm terribly sorry for waking you up so early, but-"

"Who is this?" he interrupted grumpily.

"_Hmmm…so Adam's not a morning person either,"_ Ginny mused. "It's G, er Brittney," she quickly amended, "from the plane?" Several seconds of silence stretched before she got a response.

"Plane?" he murmured stupidly, as if trying to work some untapped portion of his brain to figure it out. "Brittney? Britt! Oh, hey, yeah. You sound different."

"_Because of the phone?"_ she wondered.

"Why are you calling at…holy crap, it's not even six," he groaned miserably.

"Yeah," Ginny blanched. "Sorry. I know it's ridiculously early, but I'm in a bit of a bind, and I didn't know who else to call."

"What's going on?" he asked, starting to sound much more alert.

"Er…" she hesitated. She had no idea what to tell him. "Well, I can't really talk about it over the phone, but I'm in Houston, and I could really use a familiar face, even a newly familiar face. Do you think we could meet?"

"Uh, yeah, sure, I guess. Where're you at?"

"I'm at Denny's."

Adam scoffed, the first hint of that snarky humor of his leaking through. She could practically hear his smirk on his face. "Britt, do you have any idea how many Denny's there are in Houston? You'll have to give me more than that."

Ginny looked outside for some kind of landmark that might help. "There's a store with a K inside a circle on the front just across the street?" she suggested.

"_And_…there are even more gas stations than Denny's," he chuckled, another smirk and an eye roll in his tone. "Look, why don't I just give you my address, and you can get a cab over here. That'll give me time to throw some clothes on, too."

"Sounds great," she replied, digging out a Muggle quill (a _pen_ she thought Hermione had called it after her dad pulled some things from his shed) to write it down on a napkin.

_Buzz…buzz…buzz…_

Ginny rolled over, burying her face into her pillow to try and reclaim sleep before it was lost. She was having such a wonderful dream. She was spending a lovely day laughing, playing, and kissing on the beach with Harry. She remembered the feel of his hands as he pulled her close in the water, the taste of salt on his lips, the way…

_Buzz…buzz…buzz…_

The buzzing finally pulled her out of her dream. Ginny slid her hand under the pillow to turn the alarm off on her wand and rolled to face the light of the mid-day sun. Hmmm…her bed seemed much softer than usual today, and why did it smell so funny? It smelled…fruity. Truly perplexed, she opened her eyes to stare at the pink and green curtains covering the window. That wasn't right…her curtains were yellow. She wasn't in her room.

The events of the past two days, of plane rides and Death Eaters came rushing back to her. Ginny shot upright to stare alarmingly around the bedroom that wasn't hers. Where was she?

"_Adam, I'm at Adam's house. This is his sister's room,"_ she soon remembered, her heart returning to a normal speed as she took in her surroundings. Minus the tan carpet and the light wood of the furniture, there was pink and green everywhere. It was like being inside a giant watermelon.

Slightly intimidated by the extreme femininity of the room, Ginny folded her legs in front of her and rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she tried to recall more about that morning. There wasn't much, really. After a slightly awkward hello and Adam announcing oh-so-tactfully that she looked like she was about to keel over, he'd brought her up here, explaining that since his sister was off at college and his mum had left early for work, she was free to rest in here for awhile. And did she remember him saying something about an in suite bathroom?

Another glance around showed an extra door. Ginny unfurled herself from the bed sheets to take a look. It was indeed a bathroom, with a large vanity, a tiled in shower, and a round tub so big she was pretty sure she could swim in it.

"_Money, apparently, has never been an issue in_ this _house."_

The thought had been rather intimidating that morning, but right now…that tub was the best sight she'd seen since she'd collapsed into that hideously pink bed.

She spent a long time just soaking in the tub, staying in so long that her skin pruned. The hot water had done an amazing job of ridding some of the tension from her muscles. She felt so much better. And she was finally able to think without a heavy fog again. Yet as revitalizing as it was to have a bit of time to relax, there was still much to do.

"_First things first,"_ she thought as she wrapped a towel around herself, getting into her down-to-business mode, _"another new look."_ She picked up a magazine left lying on the vanity and began searching through the strangely still pictures for some ideas. There would be no more Polyjuice to the rescue if she was found again.

She found Adam in a large sitting room filled with rich, leathery browns a bit later. He appeared enthralled and almost lost in a zombie-like state by moving pictures in a large, rectangular electnic thing that he seemed to be controlling by punching buttons on a small device. She stood and watched for a few minutes before he noticed her. She had _not_ been expecting his reaction.

The device dropped from his hands, and he gaped openly at her. "Holy…you look…" He seemed to have a hard time finding the right words for what he was thinking. "…different," he finally decided.

It was Ginny's turn to smirk. "It's called a decent rest and a haircut. Lift your jaw back up," she made reference to the fact that his mouth was hanging so far open he'd practically have to scoop his jaw from the floor. He promptly followed the advice, and Ginny smirked further at seeing a faint blush touch his cheeks.

He shook his head, the dumbstruck expression still not fully wiped from his face. "Sorry…it's just…damn, you're killin' in that dress."

She flushed this time. Not because a sixteen-year-old was apparently gawking at her, (that would just be wrong) but because of the fact she was in this ridiculous dress in the first place. It stopped a couple inches above her knees, was royal blue, slightly flowy, with three quarter length sleeves, and she'd paired it with a dark brown belt around her waist and her boots charmed into a matching shade. Ginny Weasley would not be caught dead in this outfit. It was a good thing she was Brittney Southerby right now.

"Eyes back in your head, Adam," she snapped, chucking a throw pillow at him as she sunk into the opposite chair's cushion.

He grabbed it before it smacked him in the face. "Dang, take a compliment. You can't blame me for noticing. You look a lot better than you did this morning. You were pretty rough."

Ginny rolled her eyes. Really, the kid had all the tact of Ron. "So you've told me," she replied dryly.

"Seriously," he continued, as if he had no filter, "I barely recognized you. I mean, I've seen my sister do some drastic stuff with makeup before, but you looked totally different on the plane. This morning, too. What's with that, anyway?"

"I just like playing around a bit, is all. It's boring to look the same all the time," she quickly covered before attempting to change the topic. "Thanks for letting me use your sister's room, by the way. I feel bad for just showing up and basically passing out after bothering you so early."

Adam shrugged, falling back into his casual, aloof composure she'd known of him before. "No big. I crashed out for a couple more hours, too. Besides, you obviously needed to sleep, and Reanne's never here. I figured you'd rather use her room than mine."

Ginny thought about the disgusting mess her brothers' rooms had been back when they were in their teens. "Yeah, probably," she agreed.

"Hey, are you hungry?" Adam suddenly asked. "I ordered pizza earlier."

"Pizza?" she asked blankly.

His eyes widened in an expression of disbelief. "Don't tell me you've never had pizza."

"No."

"Oh, my God," he threw his head back dramatically against the couch. "That has to be a crime. Hold on." He hopped up and returned a few seconds later with a couple of slices on a paper plate. "Pepperoni," he announced. "It's the best. Here, I brought you a soda, too." He reclaimed his seat on the sofa with his own plate and waited expectantly for her reaction.

Ginny eyed the odd looking meal he'd presented her with and then shrugged and took a generous bite. Her eyes widened in surprise. "It's good," she nodded to Adam's satisfaction and proceeded to enjoy her late lunch with her new friend.

"Okay," Adam said once they were done, "I've been trying to be patient, and I'm not complaining cuz it gave me a reason to skip school, but I've gotta ask. Are you gonna tell me what the heck's going on?"

Ginny nearly choked on the fizzy drink he'd given her. "You're skipping school?!" To be honest, she was surprised that _that_ was the part she'd exclaimed about.

He waved her off, "Eh, it's healthy to skip every now and then."

"Adam, if I'd known you were skipping for me-"

"Jeez, chill, Britt," he cut her off. "You're not my mom."

"No, but I bet your mum's not going to be too happy about it." Okay, seriously…this from the girl who'd snuck out of Gryffindor tower countless times with Harry Potter? Who had in her day been quite accomplished at pushing her own mother's wishes? She'd known running couldn't have been good for her sanity.

"Nah," Adam went on, seemingly unaware of Ginny's inner disquiet. "I'll just tell her the jetlag got me, and I missed my alarm. I needed a day to recoup. No big deal."

"Yeah, but you didn't," she protested. Really…someone shut her off.

"Yeah, but you would've been screwed if I'd decided to go to school instead," he tossed back. "Now quit avoiding my question. What's up, Britt? And what's with the new accent? It's been driving me crazy all freaking day."

Ginny was ready to hex herself at that last remark. Once again, she'd mucked something up. How could she forget Adam would be expecting her Scottish brogue? Now, how in Godric's name was she going to get out of this one?

"_Lie,"_ she told herself. _"If you don't want to tell him, you have to lie. You knew you were going to have to at some point."_

Thinking on her feet, she started, "The accent's just so I can blend in better. I'm going to be staying in America for awhile, and it just seemed better if I tried sounding the part. I don't feel so out of place if I do."

"Sounds like you've got it down pretty well since yesterday morning," Adam remarked, the skepticism in his tone matching his raised eyebrow.

Ginny shifted under his scrutiny. _"Damn it, he's perceptive for such a squirrely little bugger."_

Pulling an excuse out of thin air, she quickly tried to recover, "Oh, well, I practice with accents quite a bit. I was big into theater back home." Adam nodded, still eyeing her uncertainly, and she decided it best to hurry on with her story. "And as for what's going on and why I ended up here…" She paused, trying to recall the excuse she'd drawn up on her way over in the cab that morning. She hoped it was decent enough.

"To be frank, Adam, things are pretty bad at home, and I just couldn't stay there anymore. I used to be able to stay with my boyfriend, but his job transferred him over here to America a few months ago, and I finally just decided basically, what the hell? Why not join him over here? I thought it would be fun to surprise him so when my flight got in last night, I took a cab over to his place, and…" She pressed her lips together and tried to call on her natural incense for effect. "Well, let's just say that _I_ was the one that was surprised."

"So you caught him cheating?" Adam asked for clarification.

Ginny nodded. "We got into this huge fight, and he tried to get physical so I left. I was just too worked up to think clearly, and I didn't want to stay anywhere near him so I hopped on a bus and somehow ended up in Houston. That's when I called you."

She knew before she was finished that Adam wasn't buying it. He wasn't buying one bit of it if that quirked eyebrow said anything. He crossed his arms in front of himself and pierced her with a look worthy of Bill's when he found one of his younger siblings doing something completely inappropriate, like the time he'd caught her trying to take a chocolate frog without paying for it when he'd brought her along to the store back when she was seven. It was a bit unnerving, honestly.

"Britt," Adam began in a stern, serious voice, "No offense, but you can't lie worth a damn. You've been jumpy and secretive since we left the airport in London, and you don't call someone you barely know and show up at their house looking totally exhausted and freaked out if it's not something big. I am the _king_ of twisting information, Brittney, and while I can commend your efforts, you can't bullshit a bullshitter. Now what's really going on?"

His look was so severe she knew he wasn't going to accept anything but the truth. Expelling a great sigh, Ginny met her friend's gaze. "I can't tell you. I can be vague, but there are things I just can't tell you. You wouldn't even understand or believe most of it if I did."

"So then tell me what you can," he said simply.

"Okay...but don't say I didn't warn you…" she agreed tentatively before going into her story. She hoped she wouldn't regret it. "I didn't completely lie. Things are bad at home, but that's not why I left. I left because my family asked me to."

"Why would your family want you to leave?"

"To keep me safe. I was leaving England under the radar, or trying to at least. There's a really dangerous man after me. If he manages to get a hold of me, I have no doubt he wouldn't hesitate to kill me. He'd probably want to torture me first, but I know he'd kill me."

"Holy…" Adam interrupted, his brow lifted so high it practically disappeared into his hairline. "Jeez, are you serious?"

"Unfortunately," Ginny replied, both her voice and expression wry. "My options for hiding in Britain were pretty well exhausted so my family convinced me to disappear in another country until things got back under control. _I'd_ rather stay and deal with things upfront, but, considering all the circumstances, it seems better if everyone knows I'm safe. They'll be able to focus on the situation better that way." Even with stating her reasoning, she was certain it was evident that she didn't really agree, nor was she happy about having left.

Adam's brow knit as he considered what she'd just revealed. "But you're not safe here. Are you?" he asked, his voice quiet and filled with concern.

"No, not completely," Ginny admitted. "I was somehow followed to Georgia, and I didn't realize it then, but they managed to get a look at my plane tickets. They were waiting for me at a layover last night. And let's just say I'm glad I grew up with so many brothers because if I hadn't known how to fight, I can't guarantee I would have made it out alive. Long story short, I got away and made it to the bus station just before it closed. The only ticket available was to Houston. It just seemed like too much of a coincidence for me to _not_ call you."

If she had been worried about how Adam might take the information, she shouldn't have been. It was amazing the way a sixteen-year-old boy's brain could work.

"Dang, Britt," Adam gawked through his concern as embellished ideas of the fight formed in his mind. "That's like some serious CIA shit or something."

"Er…I guess," she offered, getting the gist of what he meant. "Anyway, my plans have pretty much gone up in smoke, and I'm not exactly sure where to start with making new ones. I know I was followed to Houston, which wasn't hard since it was the only ticket available. And I'm almost certain I managed to slip away back at the bus station, but it's hard to say what's the best move to make next because I have no _idea_ how I was found in the first place. Seriously, with the way my trip was planned, I should have been able to slip out unnoticed. I don't even look remotely like my old self. Would you believe this used to be red?" she asked, sounding slightly cynical as she held up a lock of brown hair that now hung in layers just above her shoulders.

"Yeah?" Adam sat forward, clearly growing more interested by the second. "That's what all the different looks are for then, huh?"

Ginny nodded. "I have to keep trying to throw them off somehow."

"So which eye color is yours? The blue or the brown?"

She gave him an appraising look. "You're pretty observant for a guy."

He shrugged. "I've got a thing for blue eyes."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "Then you'll be disappointed. The blue was contacts. And the less makeup version you saw this morning? That's more me, too."

Adam grinned. "That, I do like better."

Ginny rolled her eyes and shook her head laughingly before saying seriously, "You do realize that you're off you're rocker if you think flirting is going to do you any good."

He shrugged again, a smile still on his face. "Can't blame me for trying. But okay, I get it. Situation serious. But I've got another question."

"What?"

"Well, you weren't totally lying before, about your home situation, I mean. So, does that mean that there's actually some douche bag boyfriend involved in all of this? He's not the guy that's after you, is he?"

Ginny lifted her gaze to the ceiling. This wasn't where she wanted this conversation to go. The less Adam knew the better. She'd probably told him heaps more than she should have already.

"Let's just say that my boyfriend is not the safest person to be around," she stated carefully. At least, that's what Harry thought. She personally thought no one would have protected her better than he would. _If_ she needed protecting, that is.

"You're not going to tell me _any_ real details, are you?" he asked matter of factly.

"It's for the best," she stated plainly.

"Yeah, figures… Okay, hold on," he hopped up and disappeared up the stairs for a minute. When he returned, he was carrying _another_ electnic device Ginny had never heard of or seen before. "Had to grab my laptop," he explained as he knelt to the floor next to her chair, opened the slim rectangle, and began tapping away at some buttons. Ginny watched inquisitively as the images on the top half began to change with the clicks. "Alright, you need a plan," Adam began. "My internet isn't the greatest in here, but it'll work. So, what do you want me to look up first?" He leaned back for her answer and his down-to-business expression almost immediately shifted when he noticed her curiosity. "You've never seen a computer either, have you?"

"_This kid's going to think I've been living under a rock most of my life if I don't watch it,"_ Ginny thought in frustration. She really should have paid closer attention when Hermione was explaining stuff about the Muggle world, but she'd been too busy fuming over the fact that she was even _going_ on this trip to take much in. It was her own fault if she looked like an idiot.

She quickly schooled her features so betraying of her ignorance to adorn a blasé attitude. "I have," she defended herself, "Just not one like this."

Adam raised an eyebrow at her, and although he turned back to his commuter, there was something so assessing about the look he'd just given her that Ginny was unsettled in a way she didn't know how to explain. It almost seemed like Adam had just decided something about her. Something he wasn't sharing.

"Alright, Britt, any ideas at all on what to do next? We could go ahead and get you set up with a new flight somewhere…or maybe the bus would be better this time around since that's how you got past this guy the last time. Or you could chill here for a few days to see if you're really in the clear," his pondering went on before she could reply. "That might be the best bet. What would be the point in leaving if you're just going to be followed again?"

"Adam, no. Sticking around is not a good idea."

"It sounds like a _smart_ idea to me," he enthused, completely blowing off her warning. "You don't want to be followed, so find out if they're following you. Come on, Britt. If they find you, we can take them. You already beat them off on your own. Two fighting instead of one's gotta be better."

Ginny sternly shook her head, determined to get her point across. "You don't realize the kind of people we're dealing with here. You can't fight them the way I can."

"Why? …Because I'm a Muggle?"

The silence that followed that question was deafening. Ginny's brain had screeched to a halt. She could have been smacked in the back of the head by a Bludger and would have been less surprised.

Adam smirked at her reaction. "I knew it. You're a witch, aren't you?"

Ginny was aware of the opening and closing motions her mouth was making, but she couldn't seem to be able to make it form a coherent word. "Uh…er…uh…um…"

"_What in the hell is going on here?"_ her inner dialogue finally kicked in while her mouth still fumbled over incoherent syllables. _"How does he know a wizarding word like Muggle? And witch?! He called me a witch!"_ His smirk broadened, and Ginny felt a strong urge to smack it from his face. This was anything but funny!

"You can lift your jaw back up now," he said smugly. Ginny quickly complied, her teeth clacking together she snapped her mouth shut so fast. "I'm not dumb, Brittney. I'm top ten percent in my class, actually. Enough to get me into whatever college I choose in this state once I graduate."

"Being smart doesn't explain how you'd jump to a conclusion like that, Adam. Or how you would even _know_ a word like Muggle," Ginny quipped rather harsher than she'd meant.

"No, but your complete lack of knowledge on anything technological was a huge tip off. Cell phones, MP3 players, computers, _TVs and video games,_" he pointed behind him, "were completely foreign to you. You had me explaining card games and other completely Muggle activities on the plane. Then pizza? Come on, you grew up a lot closer to Italy than I did and you'd never even _heard_ of it? I started wondering when you showed up with the different accent. No one can impersonate another accent that well and not have part of their old one bleed through sometimes, especially after one day of using it. But what sealed it was your last comment. 'You can't fight them the way I can.' A.K.A…I don't have magic and you do."

"Okay, yes, Adam, but that's still not explaining how you would _know_ that."

He shrugged. "My sister's a witch. I listened to her jabber on enough about stuff over the years to put the clues together. Now…would you like to hear the real plan I've been thinking up?"

"Okay, look," Adam said after pulling into an abrupt stop in a parking space later that afternoon. "I think you're crazy for not doing this at my house. You were there for over nine hours and no one showed up looking for you. Hey, are you okay?"

"Just not so used to the car thing," Ginny told him sparingly as she slowly released her death grip from the door handle. Having a sixteen-year-old boy drive her around was a lot different than taking a cab, and it was an experience she was not eager to repeat. Facing Death Eaters had caused less of a turn on her stomach than his whizzing through traffic lanes. "And I'll be fine here. It was great resting at your place. I really needed it, but I'd rather not push my luck. Like I said before, you don't need to be around if they manage to find me." Plus, her gut had been telling her the last half hour they were there to get a move on.

Adam rolled his eyes. "Whatever. This way's just as good, I guess. The place Reanne said for you to wait is right over there," he pointed out her window to a section of a strip of buildings. The bright red letters across the windows labeled it as a bookstore. "There's supposed to be a coffee bar up front. She said she'd look for you up there. You remember what her picture looks like, right?"

"Yes, I've got it, Adam," Ginny replied, resisting her own eye roll.

They'd already gone over everything back at his house. He'd called and explained the situation to his sister. She hadn't sounded too thrilled about helping, not having time to get mixed up in a bunch of drama was the way she'd put it, but she'd eventually agreed to meet over here, just long enough to show Ginny how to get into the wizarding district that was nearby and where she could try going for help. Apparently, she was not the only witch around from Britain that needed a way to disappear.

She liked this idea better, too. Her family would have no idea where she was, but at least she may have a way to keep up with what was going on back home now.

"Alright, Britt. You've got my number. Keep in touch."

"I will. When I can. And thanks again. You've been so much help." Really. She wouldn't have even begun to fathom the amount of help he would be when she'd called him. The way things could connect truly amazed her at times.

She gave her new friend a hug goodbye and slipped from his car, very glad to have her feet on solid ground again as she made her way into the bookstore. Reanne was nowhere in sight so Ginny went to order a drink. She was thrilled at discovering the coffee bar's menu included the tea her nerves had been craving that morning, and with hot beverage in hand, she took a seat near the wall where she could keep a stern eye on her surroundings for her wait.

She was still reeling a bit from learning that Adam's sister was a witch, not that she was pleased to be from what Adam had explained. Reanne was a creature of order, apparently, and had resented having to leave her friends and home to attend a magic school full of things she didn't know. She preferred to be "normal" and upon finishing school, chose the Muggle route of college rather than a wizarding career.

She sounded a bit too much like Harry's horrid Muggle relatives for Ginny's taste. Who wouldn't appreciate being a witch? She hoped Reanne's sour attitude over it didn't have anything to do with her being late. Fifteen minutes had passed by, and there was still no sign of her. It wasn't fair for her to assume something like that, though. She hadn't even met the girl. Something else could be keeping her.

Ginny fidgeted a little in her seat. She really wanted to keep moving. That niggling feeling in her gut she'd had before was coming back, and while nothing appeared out of the ordinary, something just wasn't sitting right. She twirled her empty cup in her hands for something to do and began another "casual" scan of her surroundings.

"Excuse me. Hi," a man approached her after tossing his empty coffee cup into the bin. He had been sitting a couple of tables away, pouring over a large textbook since Ginny had first come in. She'd pegged him for a regular Muggle revising for an exam of some sort and hadn't paid him much attention until now. He was a decent enough looking bloke, nothing on Harry overall, but like her boyfriend, he had vivid eyes you couldn't help but look at. They were kind, clear, and blue like the sky on a sunny, summer day, but they were also sad. They watched her now with concern etched in their owners face. "I know this may sound kind of strange coming from a stranger, but are you alright?" the man asked. "You seem a little on edge."

"Oh, I'm fine," she replied easily. Drawing attention to herself was the last thing she wanted to do. "I'm supposed to be meeting someone here, and they're a bit late is all."

"Well, would you mind some company while you wait? I might go crazy if I sit in front of that book any longer. I've been staring at the same paragraph for the past ten minutes, I think."

"Oh, er, it sounds nice, but no thanks," she replied as she twirled her cup, glancing out the window as a couple of people passed by. She felt bad, but she needed to keep her focus.

"Are you sure? A little conversation might help your wait pass quicker," the man cajoled.

Ginny gave him a sympathetic look simultaneously requesting his understanding. "I'm sorry, but it's really better if I wait alone."

He nodded and knit his brow for a moment before asking, "Look, I know it's really none of my business, but are you sure you're okay? You seem _really_ tense."

"Yes, I'm fine," she insisted, wishing he'd get the hint already. Her gut was starting to twist now with anticipation. She couldn't explain it, but some part of her was just _aware_ of something.

A chime on the door alerted her that someone was entering the store. She glanced in that direction, ignoring whatever the man said before going to sit back at his table, and her heart nearly stopped in her chest. Her favorite pair of Death Eaters had just walked through the door. They'd done a few appearance alterations of their own, but it was them.

She snapped her gaze down before the awareness on her face could give her away. How in Godric's name had they found her this time? How was she going to get away without revealing another disguise?

She quickly ran through her options, surreptitiously watching the Death Eater couple as she pretended to drink from her cup. They didn't seem to know who she was yet. It simply appeared they were scanning the crowd as they wandered further into the store. Ginny waited until they were past the coffee bar and their backs were turned before she stood casually from her seat and began making her way to the door. If she could slip out and get past the windows before they turned around, she might be alright.

She'd _almost_ made it. She'd swear it, but for some reason unknown to any sane portion of her mind, she'd looked back through that window…right into a suspicious, dark gaze. She watched as the woman's mouth curled up into a sick, twisted smile…with all the promise of a vicious duel behind it. The no mercy kind. And if Ginny couldn't reach a safe enough place, a lot of Muggles would end up collateral damage.

That in mind, Ginny tore off down the sidewalk in search of an alley, of something she could duck into before the Death Eaters could start throwing curses. Except there weren't any. There was nothing but a long expanse of stores and a sporadically filled car park surrounded on all sides by street.

A curse suddenly whizzed past her ear and hit the sidewalk in front of her, initiating a few startled screams from some Muggles as bits of cement flew into the air. It was way too close for comfort, and she tossed a Shield Charm behind herself, hoping to protect a few others in the process. She _needed_ to get out of there. Maybe if she ducked between a few cars she could Apparate away. But where would she go? She wasn't taking this fight to Adam.

More curses started zipping through the air around her, and she dove behind an SUV out of direct fire of most Muggles to start firing back. She got a well placed Stunner in quickly on the man, but the woman was managing to dodge everything she sent her way and sending just as many back in return. Ginny had just managed to fire a successful Cutting Curse when a shockingly powerful Stinging Hex shot low to the ground hit her squarely on the ankle.

She winced and bit her lip to hold back a cry. Tears tried to surface but she blinked them forcefully away to peer past the vehicle, and to her relief saw the woman doubled over and clutching her side. Hating to fight dirty but knowing it was necessary, Ginny pointed her wand and bit out the Stunner through clenched teeth. Satisfaction swam through her when the woman crumpled to the ground.

"_Current total: Ginny-two, Death Eaters-zero,"_ she thought triumphantly.

Her attackers taken down, she went to assess the damage. There were shreds of metal and rubber strewn about from a car that had been hit by a nasty Blasting Curse, several scorches and marks on other surrounding cars, and countless holes blasted into the cement of the car park. It was amazing to her to not see any other casualties than the Death Eaters and such a relief. The Muggles all seemed to have taken off or ducked into stores. There really wasn't anything she could do about them. There were too many, and she didn't know who all had seen.

She wasn't leaving without altering the Death Eaters memories, however. She now knew they had to have some way of tracking her that she didn't know about, but she wasn't going to make them keeping up with her any easier than it had to be.

After wiping as much as she dared from their minds, (she wasn't Hermione, after all) she hobbled her way up the car park away from the chaos. An SUV soon pulled in from the street and slowed to a stop next to her. A man that looked painstakingly like Harry rolled down the window.

"Hey, you alright? Looks like you've got a nasty sprain or something there." He nodded at her sore ankle.

"Or something," Ginny agreed.

"Need a ride?"

"If you happen to know where I can use a phone."

He grinned and reached over to open the passenger side door. "Hop in."


	4. Chapter 4: The Curse

**The Curse**

Ginny watched tiredly as the bustling city around her slowly gave way to its rural counterpart, her view from the windows shifting from buildings and highways teeming with Muggles and cars to one of trees and fields. The single-lane road she and the driver of the SUV now traveled down was shouldered by grass rather than cement, and red, blue, yellow, and pink wildflowers sporadically filled the roadside, occasionally stretching beyond the long run of fences.

The fences shifted as they changed properties, but most were constructed of short, wooden poles and wire barbed with sharp pieces of twisted metal. They were often lined heavily on the other side by short trees with thin trunks and spiny branches that liked to twist into a work of chaos with their neighboring brethren. The surrounding brush-like shrubs and grass below blended to close the leftover gaps near the ground. The combination often kept the landscape beyond hidden from view, except when the low, rolling hills lifted just high enough to see the expanse of greater trees or fields in the distance.

This jumbling of trees would fade in and out, sometimes allowing taller oaks to stand alone or in sparse clusters in open fields. Those were the most interesting to watch. They varied with use and care; some were touched with splotches of dusty browns, and others were lush, rich greens spread with the colors of the Texas wildflowers. Crops and cattle were another common element, but some fields seemed to simply be an empty stretch of land.

Graveled roads were interspaced along the roadside as well, leading either to a house that had been tucked further back on the property or sometimes simply disappearing over a hill or behind trees before its destination could be revealed.

They had been riding through the countryside for awhile now, but Ginny didn't mind. She had actually requested the ride. Any distance that was put between her and those Death Eaters could only be beneficial, and her companion behind the wheel seemed perfectly willing to comply. What was the real kicker, though, was he was the exact person she was supposed to meet.

"_Hey, you alright? Looks like you've got a nasty sprain or something there." A man nodded at her sore ankle from his SUV. He looked painstakingly like Harry, with a similar facial structure except that his jaw line was slightly more angular and his nose was a hair broader at the bridge._

"_Or something," Ginny agreed, still taking in his lean build, untidy mop of black hair, and green eyes uninhibited by the need for glasses. Her heart squeezed longingly for her boyfriend._

"_Need a ride?" doppelganger Harry asked. _

"_If you happen to know where I can use a phone."_

_He grinned and reached over to open the passenger side door. "Hop in." _

_Ginny hurriedly crawled into the other side of the vehicle and buckled herself securely against the seat. She'd need it if this man drove anything like Adam. He handed her a cell phone and she began fumbling through the disturbed contents of her bag for Adam's number as the man eased his way through the partially destroyed car park. Ginny waited nervously for his reaction, wondering how she'd explain the unmitigated state of chaos the duel had left behind, but thankfully, he turned before reaching one of the damaged rows. He looked over at her just as she located the pouch where she'd stored the napkin with the number._

"_Hey, just so you know, it's no problem if you need a ride, but I need to stop by this bookstore first. I'm supposed to be picking someone up for my brother's girlfriend…which should be interesting since I have no idea what she looks like."_

_Ginny paused in the middle of dialing the number, her index finger hovering over the last button to look inquisitively at the man now pulling into a parking space near where she'd sat with Adam a mere half hour ago._

"It couldn't be…could it?" _she wondered. Heck, what else about her trip had been normal? "Your brother's girlfriend wouldn't happen to be Reanne…would it?" she asked carefully._

_The black haired man turned surprised eyes on her. "Brittney?" She nodded, a grin of disbelief etching its way up her face. "No kidding? How crazy is that?" the guy laughed. "I'm Toby. Sorry for being so late, but I wasn't that close when I got the call. Reanne got held up at the dorms. Some idiot started a fire in the kitchen. Stuck a phonebook in the microwave or something stupid like that. She had to stick around and deal with the fire department and make sure all the rooms were evacuated and stuff. Life of an RA, I guess. Not that I get why anyone would want to be a resident advisor. You should hear all the crazy stuff they have to deal with," he chuckled, clearly remembering something particularly funny. "Reanne ever told you any of her dorm stories?"_

_Ginny shook her head. She was still trying to figure out what half the things he'd just said even meant. What the heck was a microwave, for instance? "No, I've actually never met her. I'm friends with her brother Adam."_

"_Huh," Toby nodded. "Yeah, I met Adam once. He's alright. Drives Reanne crazy with his attitude." He gave Ginny an assessing glance before nodding in approval. "I've gotta give props to the kid…you've got to be at least a couple years older than him."_

_Ginny fixed him with a glare, her narrowed gaze sending him a strong warning. "Adam is a friend," she clarified for good measure._

"_Hey, got it." He held up his hands as if to show he was unarmed before dropping them back to the steering wheel. "Anyway, Reanne asked if I'd meet up with you for her until she could get away. We could just wait around here if you want, or we could go get some food if you're hungry… Maybe we should go by a drugstore or something and see about getting a wrap for that ankle," he offered last, peering down at the foot she'd been hobbling on when he'd first pulled up._

_Ginny looked down at the slash the unusually strong hex had made in her boot. Her ankle throbbed painfully beneath it, but she knew Muggle medicines would have little effect on the magical sting. "Would you mind just driving a bit?" she suggested instead, eager to put space between herself and the stunned Death Eaters she'd left lying between cars a few rows away._

"_Yeah, no problem," Toby said as he backed out of the space. "Any place in particular?"_

"_Just away."_

She was beginning to regret her haste to get away now. Muggle medicine might do next to nothing compared to the proper potions or paste, but surely she could have found something that could have at least _eased_ the wretched stinging sensation. She'd thought it would have worn off by now, honestly, but it was still going strong. The raw skin beneath the gash in her boot pulsed angrily at her, even in stillness.

She shifted her foot carefully against the floorboard to try and angle it so the rough edges didn't rub so much against the swollen skin beneath. A sharp stab of pain shot through her calf as the boot pressed against her leg. Ginny bit down hard on her lip to stifle her hiss.

"_Perfect…just bloody perfect,"_ she snapped to herself. _"It's bloody spreading, and I have no way of tending to it, especially not with this bloke in the car with me."_ She glanced over to the driver's side, perturbed for a moment that she was with a Muggle, and saw that Toby had been watching her.

"If your leg's bothering you, why don't you prop it up? It should help if it's swelling, at least."

"I don't know how much that would help. It's more of an irritated sting than a sprain," Ginny explained, earning her a strange look.

"Then take the boot off. I'm not gonna care if your shoe is off. Trust me, many a girl has removed more than that in my car," he winked.

Ginny's nose scrunched slightly in distaste. That wasn't the first line he'd thrown at her like that since they'd been driving. Toby seemed like a nice guy overall, but he was lacking a certain filter, or perhaps a portion of his brain that told him a girl wasn't interested.

She did, however, consider his advice. She knew she was going to have to switch to sandals, there was no doubt about that, but finding another way to hide her wand was going to be difficult in this outfit. Deciding the Great Shoe Swap wasn't something she needed to worry about until they met up with Reanne, she went ahead and started easing her sore leg from its torturous confine.

Her ankle was swelling more than she'd realized, and she found herself turning her leg at strange angles, finally having to hold it over her lap to tug it free. She couldn't help the hiss that escaped when the rough edges of the gash scraped furiously across the inflicted area, or the strange noise in her throat as air hit the wound for the first time. She squeezed her eyes shut tight and waited for the pulsing sensation to rescind before easing her foot back to the floor.

"Ssss…" Toby gave an appreciative hiss. "Sounds painful."

Ginny peered out of one eye as she nodded in agreement, but instead of finding Toby staring down at her ankle, she saw his gaze gliding slowly upward to rest at her lap. She glanced down to see that her dress had raised several inches. Blushing furiously, she yanked the material back down. Cursing the dress, she fumed, _"It was nearly all the way up to my knickers, and he looked, the creep!"_ "How about you keep your eyes on the road?" she snapped aloud.

Toby didn't reply but pulled to a stop by the next gravel path. He unbuckled and shifted slightly in his seat to face her. Ginny suddenly felt very uncomfortable.

"What if I like the view better in here?" he asked, more than a hint of insinuation in his tone.

"Then I think you're out of luck," she replied. Her tone was firm but guarded, unsure of what his reaction would be when he was being so bold.

Her response didn't even faze him.

"Come on, you think I haven't noticed how much you've been staring at me?"

"_Yeah, when I was thinking about how much you looked like my boyfriend. Now, you're just creeping me out!"_

"We both know you're interested," Toby continued, his voice smooth except for the turn it had on her stomach.

Ginny narrowed her eyes. _"Not even remotely,"_ she thought before tersely replying, "Maybe it's time we headed back to the city."

Her warning completely ignored, Toby quirked his mouth into a smug smile and ran a hand through his messy, black hair. "We've got time. I know Reanne, and she hasn't even called to update yet… You know, you have really sexy legs…"

His hand came over to rest on her knee as he shifted closer. His calloused fingers began sliding up her leg, warm and rough against the smooth skin of her inner thigh. Ginny grabbed his wrist, stopping him before he could reach the hem of her dress.

"Apparently, you're not getting it. I'm telling you no. I _don't_ want you to touch me, and I _don't_ care if Reanne hasn't called yet; I want to go back to the city," she demanded, leaving absolutely no room for misinterpretation.

His reaction was small. She wouldn't have even noticed if she hadn't been holding him with a fixed stare, but while no other part of him moved, not even shifted, something flickered in his eyes, something harder beneath the surface he hadn't shown before. It was only there for a moment, but she had seen it.

"I'm serious," Ginny tried again, beginning to realize how very serious this situation was turning. "Nothing's happening in this car so you either start heading back now or I'm going to get out and start walking." At least until he was out of sight. Then she could Apparate. They'd passed a lone gas station a ways back. Surely they'd have a phone she could use.

Toby smirked and glanced down at the puffy, red blob attached to her foot. "On that ankle? I doubt it." His hand started trying to slip under the blue material again.

Ginny had had enough. Still pushing against his wrist, however futilely it seemed, she unbuckled with her free hand and flung her door open. She managed to slide mostly from her seat before hard fingers clamped around her arm.

"Let go of me," she ordered through clenched teeth. When his hand didn't move, she glared over her shoulder at the guy who was determined to cross every line she could draw. "Let. Go."

"Not unless you get back in this car," he returned, irritation starting to seep heavily into his words.

"Argh," she cried in frustration and jerked her arm away. He pulled her back, trying to tow her back into her seat. Ginny twisted and slid from the SUV, determined not to let him, and bracing her free hand against the side of the vehicle, she yanked her arm from his vice-like grip.

She stumbled back from the momentum, and her swollen ankle twisted agonizingly in the loose rocks as she sought for balance. She managed to steady herself by grabbing hold of the door and quickly slammed it shut. It was the second slam that made her heart jump. Toby, apparently, was serious about not letting her walk. He frowned angrily as he advanced from the front, his shoulders stiff with his irritation and his jaw set.

She rushed around the back side of the vehicle, ignoring the sharp daggers shooting up her leg as she ran, and as soon as she was out of immediate sight, she stepped forward, concentrating hard on a spot behind a tree near that old gas station.

The sensation of being forced through a tight rubber tube overcame her, familiar and uncomfortable as ever, as she had never truly gotten used to the squashed pressure that came with Apparition, but something was different. She wasn't moving through the cramped tube this time. She felt stuck, like it was closing in around her, contracting snuggly against her body. She kept waiting for it to end, thinking harder, even more determined about that spot behind the tree as the pressure made her head pound unbearably, as though her eardrums were pressing so far in they were trying to squash her brain. Her lungs had no air, and she couldn't draw a breath. She couldn't move to get out. She thought desperately of the place she had just left, wanting anywhere to be free of the unnatural pressure.

As soon as it began, it ended. The tube was gone, and she was skidding across gravel as though it had spit her distastefully out. She gulped in air and slid to a stop gasping and choking to fill her oxygen deprived lungs. She opened her eyes to find herself only mere feet from the spot she'd been standing before. What in the world had just happened?

She stared at the tire a short ways from her face, still coughing and shaking as she tried to sort it all out. A steady crunching noise made her look over, and she saw a pair of trainers coming around the side of the SUV. She pushed herself up on scraped hands and knees as Toby appeared, his jaw still set in all his frustration.

"Why are you trying to run, Brittney? I'm just asking for a good time. Get up and get back in the car." He yanked her to her feet by her upper arms.

"No," Ginny wheezed, the pathetic sound all she could draw from her lungs. She twisted back from his grasp, her ankle screaming in protest, and fell back hard against the gravel. Toby loomed closer, his malevolent leer showing he was more than just irritated by her refusal now.

Ginny scrambled backward as he encroached, reaching desperately for her wand that had slid too far inside her boot. Realizing it was a lost cause unless she could get some space between them, she tried to get up, but he pushed her back down. A sharp rock jutted into her lower back, and she cried out, arching her back. Her magic churned, roiling restlessly as panic and fear filled her, precious seconds now wasted. "You won't let me help you back to the car?" Toby said as he knelt to the ground in front of her, his hands at his belt. "Fine, have it your way."

HGHGHGHGHG

More than an ocean away, two friends sat safely hidden inside a tent, each searching through pages for a hint of their next clue to the elusive Horcrux. They were all but certain it was the lost Diadem of Ravenclaw, which made finding it difficult because it was…lost. Well, not so much lost anymore as hidden. And most likely _re_-hidden now that Voldemort knew they were after it. But still, if they could figure out where he'd kept it before, it might somehow lead them in the right direction.

On one side of the table sat Hermione, her nose buried deep in some old editions of both The Daily Prophet and the less reputable, but recently, much more accurate publication, The Quibbler. Or what had been the more accurate of the two before the paper run by the strange but goodhearted Lovegoods had ground to a halt.

Xeno Lovegood held a running subscription with both papers, being the editor of one and using The Prophet for more factual information, as erroneous as it may be. During a visit early January, he had given the three friends all the old copies he had before attempting to betray them to the Death Eaters. It had been a messy escape, just days before the Snatchers attacked.

The odd man had helped them in the past, unknowingly explaining the connection between the Deathly Hallows and the clues Dumbledore had left, and the later betrayal had sat raw with Harry at first…until he learned of Luna's capture and Voldemort's blackmail when he and Hermione had gone on their rescue mission for Ron. It was weeks later before they'd gotten word that Mr. Lovegood had died, just hours following their visit.

It was for that reason that Harry chose to read through the book, _Modern Wizarding History of the Late Twentieth Century_ instead. He didn't need another glaring reminder of how he was failing in this war. He was letting everyone down. He was letting Ginny down. He'd convinced her to leave so she'd be safe, but he'd felt…_wrong_ ever since she'd left. It was a feeling deep down in the pit of his stomach. It wasn't steady. He felt it more in waves. Sometimes it was barely there, just a niggling feeling he could ignore, but sometimes it was so strong he thought he might be sick. The last one like that had been during dinner, and it had been so severe he'd had to stop eating. Hermione had noticed, but she never said anything anymore, not after he'd yelled at her for calling him paranoid.

He stared unseeingly at the page in front of him as his gut started to twist with an alarming intensity. An unexplainable feeling terror washed over him, and he had to clutch the edge of the table to stifle the sudden urge to bolt.

"Harry, what is it?"

He looked up at his friend now watching him with a worried expression, the array of papers lying momentarily forgotten around her. He gave her a meaningful look. "Something's wrong, Hermione. I know it," he forced through tight lungs, his breathing slightly ragged as the sense of dread increased. "And don't call me paranoid. I can't explain it, but I _know_ Ginny's in trouble."

He watched the different responses pass over her face. She was thinking very hard about what to say. "I'm not going to say I don't believe you anymore, Harry, because I can see how much you really believe it. I trust you, but I'm not sure what you're looking to do about it. You know as well as I do that Ginny's more than capable of defending herself, not to mention she's extremely clever and resourceful. I'm sure she'll be fine."

"Well, I'm _not_ sure. I agree that she's all those things. I wouldn't have encouraged her to go if I didn't think she could take care of herself, but this feels different."

"How so?"

"I don't know… Like she's panicked. Ginny doesn't _panic,_ Hermione."

"I realize that, Harry. She's one of my best friend's, remember?"

"Then why don't you seem more worried?"

"Because I find it hard to put so much faith in a _feeling_, and there's really not much we can _do_ from here. She _is_ on an entirely different continent at the moment." Hermione shook her head at him. "Something _you_ wanted."

Harry scowled bitterly. "Do you have to remind me of that?"

Hermione let out a huff of frustration and rolled her eyes. "Oh, honestly, Harry. Ginny will be fine, and if you really want to bring her back, then the fastest way to do that is to focus on finding the last Horcrux."

"Fine," he barked, snapping the book shut so hard that the resulting gust of air sent several editions of The Quibbler fluttering to the floor. He stood angrily from the table, unable to understand why his friend refused to realize the severity of the situation. "I'll go start the first watch outside. I can research for the Diadem out there."

"No, it's my night to start watch. You've barely slept in days," Hermione said as he stormed away. He ignored her. He was too frustrated to sleep because he knew, he _knew_, that it wasn't just a feeling. Somewhere in America, Ginny was in trouble, and right now, he'd give anything to have her in his arms like he had the night before she left.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Ginny swiped at the tear sliding down her cheek and sniffled to keep her nose from running. She hated crying. Not that she never did, but she hated when it happened. It was hard not to right now, though, when all she wanted was to rewind a few days' time and be back in Harry's arms again. She was safe there. The exact opposite of what she was now.

She had managed to fight Toby off earlier, before he could do her any real harm. With some inexplicable form of accidental magic, her panic had blown him back into the side of his SUV where he fell to the ground, unconscious. It had taken a few seconds for it to register what had happened. She hadn't had any bouts of accidental magic since her years prior Hogwarts, and certainly nothing ever like that.

She'd tried calling Adam, but Toby's cell phone had been in his pocket, and it was cracked beyond use. Nor had the technological device responded well to her attempt at a magical repair. Not wanting to be around once her attacker began to stir, Ginny had then fled.

While the sun made its descent into early evening, she had found her way to a grove of trees surrounding a creek bed, far back from the road where anyone could see her. It was here that she had set up a makeshift camp, which basically consisted of a pallet of blankets beneath a tall oak. After setting up the charms and wards Harry, Hermione, and Ron had been using successfully for years now, she did her best to tend to her ankle as the events of the past two days really began to sink in.

That was when the bothersome tears had started, and when they refused to ebb, she snuggled deeper into the blankets against the hard ground and let her mind drift off into happier thoughts, to one night she knew would forever be etched in her memory…

_Ginny buried her face into her pillow and drug her blankets further over her head. She'd been searching for sleep for what had to be nearly an hour now, and it didn't seem to matter how many positions she tried or how many unicorns she counted, it just wasn't happening._

_She knew why, of course. She was only hours away from one of the scariest, greatest adventures of her life. As soon as her wand buzzed on her bedside table, she'd be getting up to leave for her new life in America, to leave her family…to leave without saying goodbye to Harry._

_The dolt had four hours left, just a measly four hours before she'd be gone, and he had yet to show his handsome, infuriating face. What if she never got to see him again? How could he deny her a proper goodbye?_

_There was a soft_ pop _a few feet away. Ginny's heart immediately began to flutter, and she smiled before opening her eyes. The room appeared empty save for her belonging bereft furniture and herself, but she knew better. "You came."_

_Harry pulled off his invisibility cloak as she threw back her covers, ready to rush into his arms. "Wait, Gin," he said, stopping her before she could leave the bed._

_She groaned, falling back to sit on her heels. "Harry…"_

"_You know this comes first."_

"_But I know it's you," she readily complained._

"_Ask me your question," he persisted, calm but determined._

_It bugged Ginny to no end. "Ugh, this is stupid. If it wasn't you, you wouldn't have been able to get through the wards."_

_Harry crossed his arms stubbornly over his chest. "Have you forgotten that your Secret Keeper is missing?" Ginny rolled her eyes. "Gin," he gave her a stern look, the one that told her she didn't have a chance at winning._

_Ugh…she knew then that it was better to just get it over with. He was going to stand there like that until she asked him something. However, it didn't mean she couldn't make the question interesting…_

"_Okay…" she began, tucking her hair behind her ears as she pretended to think. Harry swallowed impatiently. The moon was now highlighting a very pretty neck he couldn't wait to get his lips on. "What do you enjoy doing after we make love?"_

_He grinned. He knew exactly what she was doing. "I like looking for patterns and shapes in your freckles." He glanced at the pale, speckled flesh beneath the thin spaghetti strap of her pajama top. "I found a star, a Snitch, and a four leaf clover on your left shoulder the last time. Would you like me to mention what I found on your bum?"_

_She giggled. "Your question, Mr. Potter."_

"_What did you count the first three times we slept together?"_

"_Your scars. I found forty-four then, but the running total is currently up at fifty-seven. Sixteen of those are on your back, eight of which were made one_ particularly _memorable evening out in the garden on my last birthday." She glanced up at her boyfriend with a saucy gleam in her eyes that had him shivering at the memory._

"_Am I allowed to throw myself at you yet, Mr. Potter?" she asked, her voice a deep whisper._

_Harry groaned. "Gin, if I don't have you in my arms in the next_ milli_second, I'm going to lose it."_

_She sprung from the bed before he even finished his sentence and nearly staggered him at the force she flung her arms around him. Harry pulled her close, burying his face in her hair and drinking in her flowery scent like the very breath of life itself. It was relaxing, exhilarating, soothing, charging, sweet, invigorating, and just_ utterly _filling._

_He slid his hands up her back and buried them deep in her hair to tilt her head. Gazing down at her for a moment, seeing the hunger returned in her chocolate eyes, he covered her mouth with his for a heated kiss._

_Ginny sighed at the initial touch but soon whimpered as their kiss grew deeper, their passion so filling she could barely think. She was where she was supposed to be in his arms. Harry was her life. He made her complete. He was_ home.

_Her hands traveled up his chest to clasp behind his neck. Harry reached down to lift, recognizing her cue before she'd given it, and Ginny's legs came up to wrap around his waist. He carried her quickly across the room, kicking off his shoes before throwing them both onto the bed where they immediately began the ardent task of peeling off one another's clothes._

"_Harry," Ginny breathed after a few minutes of desperate caresses across each other's bare skin. His lips were currently running a trail of fire down her neck, and it was all she could do to get the breath out. Harry reached blindly for her wand, cast a Silencing Charm, and then touched the tip to his lover's wrist before losing himself within her._

_Both were sated and robbed of breath when they fell back against the sheets some time later. Harry pulled Ginny into his chest, and they spent the next several minutes allowing their breathing to return to normal._

_As they lay there, Harry lazily traced the small Firebolt he'd just found behind her ear. He was so content right then. He couldn't help but enjoy the satisfaction and utter peace that came with being so close to the woman he loved from the very bottom of his soul. She was perfect. The way her face flamed as red as her hair when she was angry, the cute way she'd bite her lip when she was nervous or embarrassed, the spark that touched her warm, chocolate eyes when he was near. He loved every last detail of this woman. Every freckle, a blemish in her eyes, was a mark of perfection to him._

_He even loved the way she didn't hesitate to call him out on something, whether it was for being a prat or daft or because he was trying to hide too much in his own head. If anyone,_ Ginny _could get him to talk. He'd never been able to be open with anyone the way he was with her, and she had claimed the same. They were perfect together. Made for each other, and he wanted nothing more than to end this war so he could hold her in his arms like this whenever he wanted._

_He wanted to make her his in every way possible. Her father knew, and Harry knew he had every Weasley's blessing. But no matter how much he may be dying to do it, he'd never been able to ask her. It seemed wrong and unfair when he couldn't give her the life she deserved. Just look at what was happening now. Her life was in danger just because he had been selfish enough to love her. He knew what Voldemort wouldn't hesitate to do to the ones he loved, but had he even_ tried _to hold back? No. _

_Because he couldn't._

"_Harry, get out of your head," Ginny spoke quietly from against him. She stopped her gentle caress over an old Quidditch scar on his shoulder and moved to prop herself against his chest so she could look into his face. His troubled expression confirmed her suspicions. "Whatever you're thinking, I'm willing to bet Percy's other two fingers it's not good." _

_He exhaled heavily through his nose. "Am I that obvious?"_

"_To me," she smiled._

"_What gave me away?"_

"_You got really still. Your fingers had been in the same spot on my neck for two minutes. Please, Harry, no negative thoughts. Not on our last night together."_

"_This is not our last night together, Gin."_

_Ginny frowned and sat up. His comment reminded her how frustrated she'd been with him before he'd decided to show. Harry tried to pull her back against him but soon realized that wasn't going to happen. He sat up for the serious turn he knew the conversation was about to take._

"_You can't know that for sure, Harry, but you must really believe it. You wouldn't have left me until the last possible minute, wondering whether or not I'd even get to see you one last time if you didn't. What the hell, by the way? Did you honestly think a few stolen hours on our last night would be enough? Where have you been these past weeks?" she demanded, not seeming to be able to stop her frustrations from pouring out of her mouth._

_Harry's brow furrowed at her words. He hated hearing how upset he'd made her. "Ginny, did you really think I wasn't coming to see you before you left?"_

"_Well, what was I supposed to think?" she cried, for once not fighting the tears that began to sting at the corners of her eyes. "You don't tell me anything. You're gone for _months _at a time, and I never know where you're staying or if you're safe or when or even_ if _I'll get to see you again. I_ live _for the snippets of news and gossip that leak through, praying there's nothing awful in there I don't want to hear. And now you're sending me off to_ America_, so far under the radar I won't even get that._

"_How will I know you're not dead? Because we don't know what's going to happen. You-Know-Who could win, Harry, Merlin forbid, and I'd be stuck living in hiding as a Muggle in an entirely different country,_ clueless, _for the rest of my life. Even if that's not the case, you don't know how long it's going to take to find that last Horcrux. We could be apart for _years, _Harry, and you waited until we only had four measly hours left to spend together to show. How was I_ not _supposed to wonder?"_

_All of her irritation finally expelled, she allowed Harry to pull her into his arms. He let her cry on his shoulder for a few minutes and then lowered them back against her pillow. His heart broke as he stared into her sad eyes._

"_I'm sorry I made you worry, sweetheart. I don't do any of it to hurt you," he said as he stroked his fingers through her hair. He wished he could have seen it in its natural fire one last time. The dark strands were nice, but it wasn't her._

_Ginny hastily wiped away the remnants of her tears, frustrated with herself for being such a baby about it all. "I know. I know you don't, and normally, I understand why you have to keep me in the dark so often. It's just…" She hesitated. "Never mind."_

"_No. What?" He knew something big had to be bothering her. It wasn't like Ginny to break down like that. He watched her lips press together as she considered what to tell him. _

_Looking down, she answered in a voice barely more than a whisper, "I'm scared."_

"_Of what?" Of not making it out okay? Of being away from everyone? Of how long it might take for this whole mess to end? What?_

"_Of this being a permanent goodbye," she answered. "Of missing out on everything I want in life because I'm running and hiding instead of fighting for what's right." She shifted to her side to face him. "I want a real life with you, Harry. I want a future where I don't have to go to bed at night praying that you're safe. One where I _know _you are because you're here holding me. I want to get married with my family all around us. I want a time where we can just be us and later, a house with children underfoot. What we have between us is so perfect. It's just so right, but we get so little time. You-Know-Who's robbing us of it, and if I leave, it's like…like he's winning somehow. I don't want this to be it. I want that future with you."_

"_Ginny…"_

"_Promise me, Harry. Promise me this won't be it," she implored. A single tear shimmered in the moonlight as it slipped down her cheek._

_If Harry hadn't felt like complete dragon dung over her tears before, what he heard in her voice now sealed it. "I promise you, Gin. I'm going to end this as soon as I can, and I'm going to come for you. Vol-…" He barely caught himself from using the traced name. "You-Know-Who's taken too much from me already. I refuse to let him take this from us, too." He kissed her to seal the promise and then got up from the bed. He hadn't planned to do this now, but somehow he knew it was right._

_Ginny sat up, pulling the sheet under her arms to cover herself. "What are you doing?"_

"_Just a sec," he told her as he shuffled around for what he wanted. Finally realizing there was an easier solution, he grabbed his wand and said, "Accio, pouch." The small pouch he carried around his neck flew into his hand, and he quickly dug through his most cherished possessions to find what he wanted. As soon as he had it, he hurried back over to the bed where Ginny was still watching him curiously._

"_Harry, what-" she began to ask._

"_Have you ever heard of an Aurora stone?" he asked quickly._

"_Yes," she answered curiously. "They're supposed to be really beautiful, and they're extremely rare. They can only be found in magical caves in the northern mountains."_

"_They're special because they hold the magical properties of the cave," he began to explain, reciting the information Hermione had relayed, "but they look like regular diamonds until they absorb the light from the Aurora Borealis. Have you ever seen the Northern Lights, Gin?"_

_She shook her head. "No, but I've heard they're really beautiful."_

_He nodded. "I saw them last Christmas with Ron and Hermione. We'd just Apparated to follow our next lead when we saw them. It was like a Christmas present for us to be able to sit and watch something so beautiful. They come down in streaks of green, red, orange, and I think we even saw some that were violet. They're all really quick, but there was one streak that lit up the whole sky and snow around us a brilliant red. It made me think of you, Gin. How much I wanted to be with you right then. How much I wanted that exact future you just described to me._

"_I've wanted it for so long, but it seemed so wrong to ask for it when I knew I couldn't give you what you deserve. Your life's already in enough danger because of me."_

"_Harry, that's ridi-" Ginny started to protest, but he cut her off again._

"_I found this in an abandoned shop before we left," he said, looking down at his closed hand. Ginny watched him carefully. She had a feeling she was starting to see what he was trying to do, and she couldn't help the anticipatory butterflies that began fluttering low in her stomach._

"_I didn't know when I was going to do this, or if I'd even be able to, but I knew when I saw this, that_ this _was the one I wanted to give you." Harry slid off the bed and knelt on the floor in front of her. Staring intently into her face, he opened his hand and asked, "Ginevra Molly Weasley, I love you with all my heart. You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I can't imagine not spending the rest of my life with you. Will you marry me?"_

_Ginny stared down at the ring he was holding in awe. The diamond glittered in the different lights of the Aurora, the colors streaking through what looked to be a million tiny facets that had all bonded together to create one perfectly intricate stone. It was breathtaking, like watching the Northern Lights themselves._

_But what was even more spectacular, what had brought tears to shine and had her heart swelling so full she thought it might burst out of her chest, was the question she'd just been asked by the only man she'd ever even think to say yes to._

"_Gin?" Harry asked. He'd been watching the emotions play across her face, and the suspense was killing him. His heart nearly stopped in his chest when she beamed at him._

"_Yes," Ginny quickly said when she realized she needed to give him an answer. "Of course, I'll marry you, Harry."_

_He promptly slipped the ring onto her finger, and as he watched her admire her hand, a feeling of elation filled him so strongly he almost didn't know what to do with himself. He crawled back onto the bed next to her and pulled her down on top of him. "I love you, Ginny."_

_Ginny playfully scrunched her nose. "You know…I think I prefer The Future Mrs. Potter."_

_Harry grinned and lost himself in her again as she leaned in for a kiss. They weren't hurried or rushed or desperate. They took their time, thoroughly loving each other's bodies in a rhythm slow and steady. It was sweet but just as intense in its own right as before. They couldn't see or feel anything but each other. Never had they been so connected or in tune. And as they reached release, a brilliant light burst forth, as if their souls had literally touched before bringing them back to earth._

Her cheeks were wet with silent tears when she woke. Not caring to wipe them away, Ginny pulled the long necklace she'd kept tucked beneath her shirt from around her neck. The ring swung free, and she pulled it free of the chain to place it back where it belonged. She had to be careful about when she wore it since it was a magical stone, but her heart ached so much for Harry right then that she needed to see it on her hand.

She watched longingly as the colors of the Aurora danced joyfully in the brilliant stone of her engagement ring. There was something so pure about it. It was unique, special…just like what she had with Harry. This ring was the promise for their future, and she wanted it so terribly, it hurt.

She should _never_ have let him, or her family, convince her to make this trip. She'd _known_ it was wrong to run. It went against every instinct she had. She wanted to fight. She wanted to be there by Harry's side when he took that final stand against Voldemort, not to be hiding in some woods in America wondering how long it would be before Death Eaters managed to catch up to her again.

"_At least if they find me here, I'll be free to use magic to fight them,"_ she thought dryly. She'd _have_ to duel the next time, because running was not an option with her ankle in its current state.

"_What if it keeps me from holding a proper defense?"_ she worried. _"What if they win?"_

No! She quickly shoved the negative thoughts aside. She would do whatever it took to make it back to Harry. She remembered all too well how it had felt those moments when his soul had left his body four years ago, and she would _not_ let Harry feel that kind of heart wrenching pain over her. He deserved their happy future, and she _refused_ to let Voldemort win by taking her away from him.

Her resolve renewed, she threw off her blankets to prepare to leave. She would be traveling under the cover of darkness for awhile, following the length of the creek for a path, and by the dwindling light filtering down through the trees, she knew nightfall wasn't far off.

It seemed the smartest way to continue until she could figure out _how_ exactly she was being tracked. She'd thought perhaps the woman had slipped something in her bag back in Georgia, but emptying her bag and performing Revelio on each of its contents had revealed nothing. She then thought they might have found a way to track her magic, perhaps putting a trace on it the way they had with using Voldemort's name, but if that was the case, they'd have used it on Harry before her. Could they track the use of potions now? The way they could with Portkeys? Perhaps, but it didn't seem likely.

"_You'll just have to keep moving until you figure it out,"_ she told herself as she picked up her crutches she'd transfigured out of fallen tree branches. They were a useful Muggle invention. Hermione had introduced them to her family when George hurt his leg a few years back, right after the controls on potions took effect.

She hobbled carefully over to the edge of the creek bed and lowered herself to the soft soil, engorging a leaf first as a barrier between her bum and the damp dirt. She set the crutches down next to her and proceeded to gingerly remove the transfigured wrap from her swollen ankle. She'd sprained it trying to get out of the SUV earlier, and it throbbed ruthlessly without its support. She lowered it into the creek, and her head fell back as the cool water began to soothe the ache.

Ginny had done all she could to heal herself, but her sprain required potion she just didn't have, and the Stinging Hex had been awfully strong to tend without the help of magical remedies. It had managed to travel halfway up her calf before she'd found a Containment Charm that kept it from spreading further.

It was a nasty hex, much nastier than it should have been, and the mystery of it went up on the board with the tracking and her problem Apparating. She shivered at the memory of it, remembering both the way it had felt and the scuffle that had caused her to even try. She counted herself lucky to have gotten away. She wasn't completely unscathed, though.

She opened her eyes to glance down at her body. Her leg, of course, was a puffy mess, and she had scrapes along her forearms, shins, and knees from sliding along the gravel. And though the deepness of their color was hidden in the darkness of the late evening, she could still see the outlines from where Toby's fingers had dug violently into her arms. The bruises throbbed slightly, but she chose to ignore them.

Ginny sighed, wondering idly how long it would take for the injuries to heal on their own. _"I'm going to be so sore later,"_ she thought as she lifted her foot from the water, _"but that's all the more reason to keep moving now." _Her ankle wrapped securely back into its brace, Ginny reached for her crutches just as a _crack_ reverberated through the surrounding woods. She froze, and her stomach shot to her throat. _"Bullocks, no!"_

Scooting hastily behind a nearby tree, Ginny steadied herself against the wide trunk, careful to keep her weight on her good foot, and then whispered, "Accio," to her bag and the crutches. With bated breath and her wand clutched tightly at the ready, she listened.

It was eerily quiet at first. No chirping of birds or buzzing of insects. No rustling of leaves or foliage on the ground. The natural sounds of wildlife had completely stilled, save for the creek trickling steadily along. It was as if nature sensed an unwelcome presence. It was because of the stillness that Ginny was able to hear the murmured whispers.

"You had better not be leading us wrong again," said the female Death Eater.

"I didn't lead us wrong before. It was merely vague."

"Yes, well, if you knew how to cast a proper Tracking Charm, we'd not be in this mess."

"I can cast the charm just fine. I _am_ the one who developed it. It's not my fault the little bitch jabbed me in the gut before it was done," the man growled.

Ginny pressed a hand to the bruise on her lower back. _"A Tracking Charm? That's what he was doing?" _No wonder they'd been able to keep following her. She trained her ears back to the whispers and began edging her way around the trunk of the tree. If she could catch a glimpse of the Death Eaters before they entered her protective wards, she might have a decent chance at taking them down.

"It's going to be both our guts if we muck this up again," the woman said with an indignant air. "The Dark Lord's getting impatient."

"I think that was clear when he sent that annoying, little prat over."

"We're lucky he showed. Can you imagine The Dark Lord's fury if we'd woken in American custody? You'd rather that had occurred?"

"No," the man agreed, "but I would have preferred dealing with the little Mudblood we stumbled upon myself." He laughed in sardonic pleasure. "How stupid of her to think she could pass for a Muggle, as if it would have helped. It's too bad we can't pass her off for the target and be done with it all. Her features were similar enough. The eyes were a bit off, but they could be a Glamour…"

"Don't even joke," the woman hissed, appalled by the suggestion. "The Dark Lord would not be fooled so easily…"

"_Voldemort's starting to send more people over? Another witch is dead?"_ Ginny's thoughts raced. Her mind fell back to the picture Adam had shown her of his sister, a petite brunette, similar to her in size and shape, with light, greenish brown eyes… _"Merlin, no…"_ her stomach churned at the idea of Reanne dying at her expense.

"Damn it, Logan, we should be able to see Potter's little Princess by now," the female Death Eater sneered the debasing moniker. "Or has the tracking completely failed this time?"

"No, she's close. I'm sure of it."

Ginny watched in covert silence as twin faint glows bobbled in the not-too-far distance. Stealth, utter accuracy, and a swallowed propensity for extreme measures would get her out of this, and she waited in tried anticipation for them to reach a breach in the trees. Easing her wand forward, she prepared to cast the first curse.

"Ah-ah-ah, Weaslette. That's not the proper way to duel," a cold voice sneered from behind her.

Ginny gasped and spun her back to the tree. A tall, thin figure with hair so light it shown faintly in the darkness stood a few paces away, his wand drawn to her chest. Her eyes narrowed in fervent disdain. "Malfoy…"

"Now, now, Weaslette, is that the way we speak to someone with the upper hand? I'll admit you've been doing a spectacular job against these two," he inclined his head towards the other Death Eaters now approaching to flank his sides like faithful lackeys, though Ginny knew they were gobs smarter than Crabbe and Goyle had ever been. "But let's be honest," Malfoy continued, "It wasn't much of a challenge."

"Why, you wretched, little-"

"Lithy," the woman's insult was stemmed by her husband.

"Smart move, Sanders," Malfoy said. "You wouldn't want The Dark Lord learning what a mouthy wench you have for a wife, insulting one of his most trusted followers."

"So you've made up for your failure the night you tried to kill Dumbledore?" Ginny taunted. "You remember that night, don't you? When you cowered and had to have Snape finish the job?"

"Shut it, Weaslette," Draco snapped as the Sanders snickered behind him. "A lot has happened since that night. You'd be surprised how far I've risen in the eyes of The Dark Lord. It would not be wise for you to taunt me. Your boyfriend and I have a score to settle, and I wouldn't dismiss the idea of using you to do it, blood traitor."

"_There are a couple of things I'd like to do to you as well,"_ she thought scathingly, sending him a matching glare. "Since I have no doubt you plan on torturing me anyway, I think I'll go ahead and speak my mind. Go to hell, Malfoy."

"Crucio!" he yelled. But Ginny had already ducked. She threw up a Shield just in time to block curses from the other Death Eaters, and the duel began, vicious, three against one.

Curses flew in all directions and jets of light streaked through the air. Dirt sprayed up from the ground and bark exploded from the trees, pelting the surrounding persons with tiny shards. Ginny ducked and dodged, vehemently ignoring the agony of her sprain as she jumped around on the uneven ground. But when she leapt out of the way of a shouted Cruciatus, her injured foot landed smartly on a large rock, and she crumpled to the ground to clutch her screaming ankle.

A streak of red flew past her ear, so close she could feel the heat from the curse as it passed. She heard the crack as it hit the tree behind her instead, but the cracking continued, deeper, a strange, ominous sound, and the curses stopped. Looking up, she saw the shock on Lithy's face and Logan tugging her arm to pull her away. Ginny glanced past her shoulder. The trunk was destroyed. The massive oak was falling, a looming shadow in the expansive dark of night.

She scrambled up and bolted for dear life, away from the oak and the Death Eaters. Her eyes had adjusted just enough for her to weave through the trees, and her bag smacked against her bum as she ran. She heard the footsteps behind her, but before she had time to react, the impact of the great oak crashing to the earth nearly knocked her to her knees as it shook the ground.

"There's no use running, Weaslette!" Malfoy called maliciously as he steadily closed the gap between them. "You won't get away this time! The Dark Lord will have what he wants, and you'll bring Potter to him, dead or alive!"

"_Oh, Godric, no!"_ she silently pled. She needed to get back to Harry. Voldemort could _not_ win. _"Whatever it takes, Ginny,"_ she reminded herself.

She turned to aim but before she could even part her lips for a curse, Malfoy screamed, "Avada Kedavra!" And with a burst of light, the world went black.

HGHGHGHGHGHGHG

Outside a tent in Northern England, a raven haired man fell to his knees and vomited violently onto the ground.


End file.
